


Out of the corner of your eye, you spot him-

by Bounceberry88



Series: Wishin' and Hopin' [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Dad Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, F/F, F/M, Gencio because fml, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, Here we go, Jamie can't socialize, Jesse's weird, Lúcio is precious, M/M, Sombra has a birb, Sombra's a good kid, dad gabe ftw, family au, hana is dead inside tbh, it doesn't make any sense but who cares, spoopy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-05-02 11:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 37,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14543619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bounceberry88/pseuds/Bounceberry88
Summary: Jesse's settled into his new life quite nicely. Granted, it took him five years, but he made it at least. He has a loving father, a  computer freak sister, a couple of friends, a new job... What more could he need? Ah, that's right. Ice cream. He deserves it.Uh hey this is my first work and it's trash like me but hey you might like it lol





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy, yeet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i c e c r e a m

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hEre wE gO

Jesse left the small corner store, greeted by the cool night breeze. He paused, putting the change back into his wallet and smiling at the ice-cream cone he had in his hands. Thank the lord the shop was open this late so he could buy it for himself. It was a special treat, since he had succeeded incredibly well at giving Sombra a good birthday gift. He had known she would love the purple keyboard ever since he saw it when they last went shopping for headphones, and he was proud of himself for being able to afford it with his new job. Since Jesse had moved in with his adoptive dad all those years ago, he had relied on pocket money to buy anything. He never got enough to bother trying to save up, so he just spent what little he had on junk food or bus passes. But since he had managed to get a job, working with one Ana Amari in her pet shop due to a ‘need for a heavy lifter’ - which Jesse was pretty sure just meant Gabe had made her give him a job - Jesse had been able to afford things like birthday gifts.

Discarding the ice-cream wrapper into the rubbish bin, the eighteen year old started walking down the street. He normally went this way home, since Gabe refused he walk on the main road. It was a nice neighbourhood. At least, Jesse was pretty sure it was. He hadn’t died yet, so that was a good sign. A lot of kids lived around those parts, not that Jesse really saw them often. He mostly just hung out with Lena and Fareeha at one of the trio’s houses. When he did walk down this street it was usually late at night, like now.

Jesse took another bite of the cold dessert. He knew it was pretty stupid to buy something the same temperature as the environment - like soup in the middle of summer, but that logic would also apply to coffee in summer, so the line was definitely blurry - but he couldn’t resist the double caramel hazelnut blend. Jesse glanced at his surroundings, taking in the silence and the cool breeze. It was calming, just to be with himself and his thoughts. He wasn't sure what he was going to do tomorrow, but it would probably be something along the lines of shopping, or maybe a day inside. It was supposed to rain sometime this week, but Jesse hadn't heard anything about a storm, so he could probably get out of the house, maybe go to the park... 

The cowboy's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the soft patter of footsteps somewhere behind him. His brain fizzled into panic mode. Was it the boss? Were they going to take him away? What did he do? He couldn’t remember-

Jesse closed his eyes tightly, grounding himself. He hadn’t been in Deadlock for ages. Deadlock was gone. No-one would be following him, why would they want to? It was probably just a pedestrian. _What pedestrian was that quiet though...?_ Jesse kept walking.

After a few minutes it became clear whoever was behind Jesse was following him. They didn’t turn down a road when he crossed, they didn’t try to change their pace. They were going at the exact same speed as Jesse and they clearly didn’t want him to notice them. Well, it was a bit late. Jesse barely resisted the urge to turn around and confront them, or take the other option and bolt down the street, but both ideas were risky. They might attack him, they could have a gun, or a knife, or maybe even backup, and he was completely alone without any weapons. 

Jesse tried to push the thoughts away, making sure his posture remained slack and his eyes were on the ice-cream. It was okay, he was fine, his house was just another block away, he couldn't let them know he knew they were there, he just needed to act natural, nothing was going to happen, he was going to be alright-

The cowboy tensed as he heard the footsteps pause. Then they seemingly walked away. Jesse blinked, still walking. They had crossed the street. What? Were they actually not following him? Was he okay? Had he just been too paranoid?

Jesse risked a glanced out of the corner of his eye. There was indeed a person across the street, and they hadn't been there before. The stranger was wearing dark clothes and they kept their hands in their pockets, looking straight ahead with the most precise posture Jesse had ever seen. They had long dark hair covering their face but from what Jesse could tell they were a guy, and the guy had a strange symbol on the arm of his hoodie. The cowboy strained to get a better look, but it mostly just looked like a weird yin and yang sign. This person looked interesting, but they seemed to be completely focused on wherever they were going. So no-one was following Jesse.

The cowboy breathed a sigh of relief, mentally scolding himself for freaking out. It was laughable, really, that he'd gotten so worked up over some guy walking on the same street as him. Jesse glanced back at the man.

Perhaps he should call out to the stranger. He looked determined, but he'd been going in the same direction for about as long as Jesse. Maybe he was lost? It was easy to get confused around these neighbourhoods, especially at night since all the colours just looked the same in the light from the yellow lamps above. Jesse debated it in his mind, worried for the stranger but also scared of them at the same time.

Suddenly, the cowboy felt something hit his neck. He turned around, trying to see what hit him, but the world started spinning, and suddenly his knees didn't work. Jesse put his hands out as he fell, and he hissed slightly as they were grazed by the concrete. Panic set in when he saw a figure stepping towards him, but a ringing in his ears overpowered any rational thoughts. The cowboy tried to say something, but his voice box had apparently also taken a hit. Raising a hand to his neck, Jesse's eyes widened when he touched a needle - a dart. He'd been- poisoned? He didn't feel in a whole lot of pain, though. Actually, he felt great. He never noticed that the street lamps looked like stars... Maybe his eyes had never been blurry enough. They certainly were now, and what a pretty sight...

Jesse heard someone say something, but the deep voice was muffled and the words were unfamiliar. He tried to look up, but he was too exhausted to move. When had he gotten so fatigued? And why was everything so dark? Why did sleeping sound so good right now...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dAb, love y'all


	2. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse's awake, what now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this fic is only rated teen for swearing just fyi but yknow if u dont like swearing all g thx for making it this far)

Jesse woke with a start.

The first thing he noticed was that he was incredibly well rested. For once there was a distinct lack of the need to hide under his blankets, and he somehow wasn’t yawning and forcing himself to keep his eyes open.

The second and probably more important thing he noticed was that he wasn’t in his own bedroom. This place’s walls were pale blue, a contrast to Jesse’s usual sunset orange. The ceiling was regular white though, which was at least something familiar. There was a painting of a cherry blossom tree above a white, empty desk, and everything was very neat and tidy. The soft sound of air coming from a heater on the wall explained why the room was so warm. Jesse blinked. Right, well, at least he wasn’t dead. 

Jesse glanced beside him. A bedside table, with his wallet and his phone and a glass of water.

Water. Jesse suddenly realized how thirsty he was. Should he drink it? Was it poisonous? Well, surely he’d be dead if someone wanted him dead. Grabbing the glass, Jesse drank it in one go, thankful that whoever brought him here was kind enough to think of that. Ah. Who brought him here? The last thing Jesse remembered was someone saying something softly in a language he didn’t understand. The rest was a blur, but he knew whatever happened to him was connected to the young man with dark hair he had seen.

Jesse closed his eyes tightly, willing this to all be a dream. When he opened them again, nothing was different. Of course. Jesse had never been known for luck. The cowboy sighed. How long had he been out? A quick check of his phone told Jesse it had only happened last night.

His phone.

Should he call for help? Jesse had actually been kidnapped, he should try contact someone, Gabe would be worried sick- 

Jesse froze. People were talking outside the room. Two men, it sounded like they were arguing. Maybe Sombra’s brief language teachings had paid off because Jesse could tell they were speaking Japanese. He couldn’t follow anything they were saying except for the brief mention of his name and a swear word or two, but it was something. Jesse glanced down at his phone again, then the door opened.

Jesse was frozen in place, staring as a man walked into the room. Jesse immediately thought back to the person he’d seen in the street. Long dark hair, excellent posture. But this man looked slightly different. His hair had streaks of silver, tied up out of his face, and he had a decently full beard. Not to mention he was slightly taller than the person from Jesse’s memory.

The man was carrying a tray of food, and he paused when he saw Jesse.

“You are awake.” He stated, blinking monetarily. Placing the tray on the desk, the man sat down in the chair, and Jesse stayed silent. 

“Jesse McCree. I am Sojiro Shimada. I would like to tell you a story.” Jesse stared at the man, surprised. A story? Maybe he could explain why the hell he had kidnapped Jesse in the middle of the night. The man - Sojiro - had the kind of presence that Jesse disliked. Intimidating, dangerous, above others. He looked like a samurai. Maybe he was one. He wore a strange robe kind of outfit, like a kimono, but not quite. He was clearly quite traditional and probably around fifty something years old. Right, definitely not the guy Jesse saw across the street.

Jesse wanted to yell at him. Threaten him, punch him, call the police, anything. But there was something about Sojiro’s expression. A warm, friendly smile. Like he knew Jesse. Maybe he did. He’d already said his name. The cowboy felt like there was something underneath the man’s smile, but he didn’t really know what it could be.

Okay, well, Sojiro had left Jesse with his wallet and his phone, so maybe he wasn’t attempting to trap him. It could all be just an act, though. The cowboy stared at Sojiro for a little bit longer, trying to find his true motives, but there was nothing.

Breathing in slowly, Jesse closed his eyes, trying to process it all. Then he blinked back at Sojiro.

Jesse nodded sharply, once, and Sojiro brightened.

“Excellent.” He murmured, smiling.

“Once, there was a young boy from Hanamura. He was born into a criminal family, and told from the moment he was old enough to walk that he would become the leader of the clan one day. He was trained to be the perfect crime lord. He was taught murder, he was taught theft, and he was taught business.” Sojiro paused, and Jesse tilted his head, intrigued.

“The boy excelled in his learning. He was told how to lead, and he led exceptionally well. When he grew up, as was expected of him, he got married to a beautiful woman. He became the leader of his clan when his father passed, and his wife had two sons, the eldest of which would follow in his footsteps.” Sojiro said it all while he stared at his knees. It wasn’t difficult for Jesse to realize that the story was about Sojiro’s own experiences. It made sense, and somewhat explained the kidnapping. (Not to mention the ‘looked like a samurai’ part.)

“What happened?” Jesse murmured, quiet enough for Sojiro to pretend he hadn’t heard Jesse if he didn’t want to go on. The elder man blinked, as if coming out of a trance - as if being pulled away from a memory he couldn’t escape.

“The man’s wife was assassinated. In the dead of night. It was all planned. Her husband was away doing a business deal, and the trusted guard meant to protect her was the one that did it. He stabbed her in the stomach, and tried to leave it at that.” He paused, and Jesse could see the overwhelming sadness deep in the man’s eyes.

“But- But she was never one to go down without a fight. Always wanting to prove that she was not weak. If you looked down on her for being a woman, she’d always make you eat your words…” He smiled slightly, but it disappeared quickly.

“When she was found, she was holding the knife, and the guard was also dead. But- But though he lost his life, he’d won the fight. He’d accomplished his mission. She was dead, and-” Sojiro’s voice became thick with emotion.

“They planned it all. They knew her husband wouldn’t be able to protect her. She was murdered and her sons had to see her covered in her own blood.” Sojiro’s fists were clenched as he sat, glaring at nothing for a few moments. Jesse wasn’t sure what to say.

Sojiro sighed, calming.

“The man decided he did not want his sons to have to go through anything like what had happened to him. They did not deserve to feel such pain.” Jesse blinked, only just stopping himself from nodding. He was too invested in this story, wasn’t he?

“The man got himself a clean slate. He took his fortune, his sons, every possession of value he owned, and he moved to America. He abandoned the clan. The rest of them had always been corrupt anyway, they deserved what they got.” Jesse felt a flicker of something familiar, Deadlock flashing in his mind for a couple seconds. He didn’t dare interrupt Sojiro, though.

“The man reasoned with the American government. They allowed him to stay in their country, with his sons and his fortune, for all information he had on the criminal organizations he had dealt with. They used his knowledge to get rid of all that remained of his old criminal empire. They got Overwatch to take down the Deadlock gang. They put a stop to illegal doings in Oasis. Even Los Muertos couldn’t escape with all their plans and locations leaked.” Sojiro smiled to himself, seeming satisfied with his work. Jesse tilted his head. He’d never heard of a Japanese gang having anything to do with Overwatch’s takedowns, especially not the one on Deadlock. Sojiro didn’t seem to notice his surprise.

“So the man was free. He bought a house, he set up tutoring for his sons to finish their educations, and he was able to live his life in luxury for the rest of his days.” Sojiro smiled at Jesse, and the cowboy’s eyes widened. Well. That was an admittedly nice ending. Much better than the part about his wife… But still, what did any of that have to do with Jesse? Sojiro’s smile grew, and Jesse could swear the man was reading his thoughts.

“But, even after all of that, the story cannot be complete. The sons have no friends, no connections, no-one to have a future with. They’re alone. And, of course, they have learnt nothing of this culture. They need a guide.” Jesse closed his eyes tightly, trying to think over his words very carefully. Well then. A guide. Not what he’d expected. The cowboy exhaled slowly.

“So ya want me to show yer sons how to be regular people?” He asked. Sojiro nodded.

“If you would be so kind. I will pay you a lot of money. Or, you can have a new house. Anything you like.” He seemed to be pleading. Jesse was confused. Really? Him? He wasn’t really particularly good at telling people about how great America was, no matter how western he dressed. Surely there was a mistake?

“Why me? Why not get ‘em a fancy tour guide or whatever?” Jesse asked, staring at the man. Sojiro sighed.

“You are around their age, you have a somewhat similar history to them, and you might just make them like being in this country.” He said, taking a biscuit from the tray he had brought in.

“Well, I suppose I could give it a shot. If I meet ‘em…” Jesse paused, thinking, before he blinked and realized what he was agreeing to. How did he get into this situation?

Oh, right. Tranquilizer darts. Jesse bristled.

“Actually- Before that, would you maybe explain why you _fucking kidnapped_ me?” He snapped, glaring at Sojiro. The elder man froze.

“I… I apologize for that. I am so used to old methods of getting what I require, I thought this would be the only way for a man like you to listen.” He said, caught off guard by Jesse’s harsh tone.

“A man like- Listen, back in the day I woulda tolerated this kind of shit but I’ve changed an’ I don’t appreciate bein’ _fuckin’ kidnapped!_ ” Jesse growled, eyes blazing. Well, he hadn’t exactly been treated badly, but that didn’t excuse it. The cowboy narrowed his eyes as Sojiro dug for something in his pocket, and he mentally prepared for a fight, but was stopped by the ridiculous sight of Sojiro holding out a bundle of cash.

“Please, take this. I hope it will make up for what I have done.” He said. Jesse stared at him, shocked for a moment, before fury tore away any chance of him giving Sojiro the benefit of the doubt.

“Are you tryna to get past this by throwin’ money at me?” Jesse asked. How fucking ignorant was this man? Sojiro faltered.

“Well, what do you want?” He seemed genuinely surprised that Jesse was rejecting his offer. Jesse faltered.

“I- I really woulda preferred to not be kidnapped in the first place, but-” If he was being offered anything, it might do to ask for a house, or a computer, or a car, or a free holiday. Jesse blinked, an idea coming to him.

“Could I meet your sons?” He asked, remembering what he was here for. A satisfied grin blossomed on Sojiro’s face, and Jesse glared at him.

“But, keep in mind, I doubt meetin’ ‘em will make up for kidnappin’ me.” He added. The Shimada chuckled, standing up.

“I disagree.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow another chapter yeet skeet c00l 5tuff
> 
> If you like it please comment or leave kudos, I always love to hear feedback!
> 
> yes i know the plot is unrealistic but shhhh


	3. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, Jesse's recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped nicely. Perfect time to meet some cute bois

Jesse got out of bed, noticing he was still wearing the clothes he had on last night. He was temporarily concerned, then he realized that was a good thing. He’d gladly trade hygiene for the guarantee he wasn’t wearing a stranger’s clothes, or no clothes at all. Sojiro handed him his cowboy hat, which Jesse thankfully shoved on his head. Checking himself in a mirror, Jesse combed his hair with his fingers quickly, then turned to the door.

“Would you like to eat first? My son made these.” Sojiro said, pointing to the small tray. There were small biscuits, shaped like what Jesse could make out as japanese dragons. Some were iced blue, while others were green, and there were also a few purple ones.

“Dragons?” Jesse asked as he picked up the small biscuits. Sojiro nodded.

“Dragons are our family’s spirit guides. We have their powers and they protect us. Though we have left our home and our family, the dragons’ blood will run through us forever. And it will hopefully pass on to my sons’ children when the time comes.” Sojiro took a biscuit for himself, a purple one, and smiled at Jesse. “I am proud that my son has taken on baking. In Hanamura he only ever played his video games and trained to fight. It is good he has chosen to try become familiar with America and its confectionary items. They are very different from Japan’s.” He said. Jesse nodded.

“Well, if he can bake everythin’ this good I might just have to introduce him to my Pa.” Sojiro looked up.

“Your father. Gabriel Reyes, if I remember correctly? Chief of Police?” He asked. Jesse nodded.

“Ah. It must seem strange for me to know so much about you, I apologize. But I wanted to make sure I had the best person to help my sons.” Sojiro explained. Jesse realized how much this meant to the man, how much thought he had put into who he should choose.

“Well, I’d better meet ‘em, don’t ya think?” He suggested. The Shimada nodded enthusiastically.

 

Sojiro lead Jesse out of the room and down a hallway. On the walls there were a lot of paintings of dragons, and one picture of a man and a woman. Jesse recognized the man as Sojiro when he was much younger. The woman must be his wife, before she was assasinated. Jesse wondered if he would ever find out her name. It didn’t really matter though, he was here to look after her sons. Look after? That wasn’t really the right phrase, he was more here to be their friend. Right? Honestly, Jesse wasn’t really sure. Sojiro suddenly stopped, and Jesse realized they had entered a living room. There was a large window letting in sunlight, the room was white with black leather furniture. The sofas were L-shaped and curved around a glass coffee table with small bonsai trees and a plate of heart shaped cookies. There was a desk in the corner with a large desktop computer and another bonsai tree. Jesse glanced at the two guys sitting on a couch talking quietly in Japanese, worry pricking at him.

~

“Name’s Jesse McCree. Y’all know that already though, don’t ya?” He asked with a smile, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch. The eldest son spoke first.

“Indeed. We know a lot about you. We know that you were kidnapped last night despite the fact I specifically told my father I did not want you to get such a first impression from us.” He looked about Jesse’s age and shared a lot of similarities with Sojiro. Long dark hair fell past his shoulders, outlining a strong jaw. He had a traditional japanese gi on, it was orange and white. His brown eyes were almond shaped and glanced angrily at Sojiro when he spoke of Jesse’s kidnapping. The younger man - boy, really - looked fifteen, give or take a couple of years. He had a much more American outfit, a green checked shirt rolled up to his elbows over a white t-shirt and black jeans with converse shoes. His hair was short and bright green, but other than that as well as age he just looked like a younger, more modernized, quite laid-back version of his brother. Both of them were remarkably handsome, and stared at Jesse as if he was the strange one. To them, he probably was.

“And y’all are?” Jesse asked expectantly.

The younger son laughed.

“I can’t believe father really wants a cowboy to teach us how to be American! It makes sense, honestly, but I didn’t think he was serious when he said you wore that hat!” He said, giggling. Jesse briefly felt offended, but the kid didn’t seem very malicious with his comment. “I’m Genji Shimada. Now I’m actually quite excited for our trip!” He exclaimed. Jesse blinked.

“Trip?” He asked. The elder Shimada brother nodded.

“Yes. You are to take us out to the Aquarium by the beach. You have been before, yes?” He said with a sneer.

“Well I’ll be! I gotta take you out before I even know your name? Not that I’m complainin’, darlin’.” Jesse said with a wink. Genji spluttered, and Sojiro chuckled quietly. The elder Shimada brother turned red and stared at Jesse, completely shocked. The cowboy smiled.

“Lesson one of bein’ a regular American: with such a pretty face people are gonna try flirt with you. If you don’t like ‘em, just tell ‘em gently you don’t feel the same way. Unless of course, you like leadin’ people on.” Jesse turned to Genji. “Has anyone ever flirted with him before?” He asked quietly, pointing to the other brother. Genji laughed.

“No-one has ever had the guts to try be so bold with Hanzo, cowboy. I already like you more than anyone in Hanamura!” He replied, glancing at Hanzo. The elder brother’s face had gone cold.

“It is rude to talk of someone as if they are not present, when in fact they are. Father, must this imbecile really be the one to take us to the Aquarium?” He asked, turning to Sojiro. Jesse noted he hadn't even tried to hide his dislike for the cowboy. He could have at least spoken in Japanese so Jesse didn't understand.

“Yes, Hanzo. He knows many people, his father is respectable. He will introduce you to friends you can enjoy the company of, I’m sure.” Sojiro replied, folding his arms. Hanzo sighed.

“Fine. Jesse McCree, my name is Hanzo Shimada. Take us to the aquarium.” He said, folding his arms. Jesse nodded.

“Sure thing, Shimada. As soon as I stop bein’ poor as hell.” He replied. He glanced at Sojiro, but the man clearly got the hint and held out a wallet. Jesse couldn’t say he was surprised with the blatant bribe the older Shimada had tried to give him earlier.

“Everything in this is to be used by you only when you are with my sons.” Sojiro stated. “But you must get at least one of their permissions to buy something.” He added. Jesse smiled.

“Alrighty. Genji, Hanzo, let’s go to the aquarium.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The aquarium it is
> 
> In later chapters you might notice certain plot lines that won't get elaborated on because this fic is Jesse's POV. I want to make this fic into a series and add the extra plot lines in their own fics. Would anyone be interested in reading those? I could make this fic multiple POV but I don't want to shove my other favourite ships in your faces (tfw someone puts widowkill in a mchanzo fic im trying to read)


	4. Aquarium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aquarium? Pff, what could go wrong?

Genji laughed, his shoulders shaking as he giggled. “Cowboy, your jokes are terrible!” He laughed, shoving Jesse sideways.

“Oh come on, Genji! Hanzo liked it, I saw him smirk for a second!” The American insisted. Hanzo stayed silent, but that didn’t bother Jesse. The older Shimada brother clearly preferred to keep quiet on his opinion, that was one thing that became obvious on the taxi ride here.

“Alright you two, ya wanna actually go into the aquarium or just admire the architecture?” Jesse asked, pulling out the wallet Sojiro had given him. There was a stupid amount of cash in it, Jesse hadn’t bothered to count it all. He doubted they would need that much, but maybe if they wasted a lot on the overpriced toys in the gift shop, they could spend just about, say, an eighth of it? Jesse paid the nice lady at the desk and the trio wandered into the aquarium. Jesse had been here before a few times, it was pretty nice. Definitely worth the money, at least. The first exhibit was beaches and riverbanks. 

~

Jesse blinked in surprise. “You’ve really never seen shells like these before?” He asked Genji, who was dazzled by the selection of pretty swirls and colours.

“We went to a beach when he was two years old.” Hanzo murmured, smiling softly. “I was seven. I collected shells much like these and put them on a sand castle. The tide came in and washed them all away. I was devastated, but Genji just laughed at the situation. I couldn’t stay mad when the small sacrifice had brought my brother joy.” Hanzo put his hand on the glass case of the shells, sighing at the memory. Genji stared at him in awe.

“Really? We went to a beach? Why didn’t you tell me about that sand castle, Anija?” He asked, grabbing his brother’s arm. Hanzo pulled back, and turned away from the shells.

“You never bothered to listen.” He said slyly, walking away. Jesse blinked.

“Did you know he could do that?” He asked, turning to Genji. The younger Shimada chuckled.

“Be so cruel? Indeed I did.” He murmured. After a pause of them both staring after the older Shimada, Genji spoke again.“Well, the exotic section is up next isn’t it? We should not keep my brother waiting.”

~

Jesse smiled around at the strange animals. Genji was once again entranced, while Hanzo kept his curiosity tamed, but noticeable.

“These seahorses are awful pretty, aren’t they?” Jesse asked, leaning down to look at them. Hanzo nodded.

“I could not say the same for the madagascan animals. It is more a vice-versa of the ‘awful pretty’.” He stated. Jesse spluttered.

“Fuckin’ quick today, aren’t ya Hanzo?” He asked. Hanzo smirked.

“You don’t even know, McCree.” He muttered. After a moment he opened his mouth to add something, but was cut off by a squeal from Genji.

“Jesse, Jesse! What are those creatures?” The younger Shimada asked, squashing his face against a tank. Jesse tried to push his head to the side.

“Move over, I can’t look at ‘em when your face is in the way.” He muttered. Genji moved slightly, letting Jesse catch a glimpse of what he was talking about. “Oh. Those are axolotls.” Jesse said blankly. Genji smiled.

“I love them.”

~

Before Jesse could even step into the open ocean exhibit, his breath was taken away. Mainly because he had tripped on the stairs and thought he was going to die. He narrowly escaped face planting with a sharp corner when strong arms wrapped around his chest, keeping him from his untimely fate (an easily fixed nose injury). Jesse stabilized himself and stood up, turning his to look at his saviour. Hanzo immediately took his arms away, eyes wide. There was a pause, then Genji broke the silence.

“Are you alright, Jesse?” He asked, handing the American his hat.

“Yeah. I could’ve broken my nose on that ledge. Thanks darlin’.” Jesse replied, smiling at Hanzo. The Shimada simply nodded, turning to look ahead. Jesse followed his gaze. “Welcome, Shimadas, to the Open Ocean Exhibit.” He announced, leading them into the room. There were six doors, three entrances and three exits for all three sections of the exhibit.

“Let’s start with the surface of the ocean.” Jesse decided, going into the door on the right.

~

Genji seemed pretty bored by the information about boats and how land is changed by the ocean.

“Jesse, let’s look at something interesting!” He whined. Jesse had to admit he felt the same way. No matter how interesting the facts were - detailing just how brutal sharks were when trying to murder fish, or how many different types of knots you could tie to stop a crab catching cage from completely breaking when clawed at by its prisoners - the exhibit just wasn’t interesting without any actual animals to make fun of. The cowboy glanced at Hanzo, who looked just as bored.

“Do ya wanna stay?” He asked. The older Shimada paused, finishing the paragraph he was reading, then turned to Jesse.

“The other exhibits will be better.” He stated, glancing at the exit. Jesse nodded in agreement.

“Alrighty, let’s take a look at the second one.” He said, leading the two back into the main room and then through the center door.

~

Jesse smiled as Genji waved at all the fish. He clearly enjoyed looking at actual animals more than graphs and fishing techniques. The American had to admit that seeing a clownfish swim in circles or a turtle wake up and swim to the surface of its tank for food was somehow more exciting than whatever the first exhibit had to offer. They had collectively decided in the first tank there were five striped yellow fish, six clownfish, eight blue and black ones and three light blue ones. Hanzo had provided the names of the species for all of the fish but Jesse and Genji didn’t care what they were, just that they looked weird. In the second tank there were five large sea turtles. Genji took it upon himself to name three (Cowboi, Ninja and Hanzo 2.0) while Jesse was allowed to name the other two (Reaper-but-a-turtle and 76-year-old-man). Genji offered Hanzo name one but the elder brother declined, stating he refused to give one a name when all five already had one given to them by the aquarium staff. In the exhibit there was also a tunnel inside of a tank you could walk through while fish, sharks, and stingrays swam above you. Genji was completely mesmerized by this concept and insisted they go through the tunnel again and again. Jesse was surprised Hanzo didn’t seem to mind looking at the same fish over and over, but he didn’t mention it to the Shimada.

The third part of the exhibit was the deep ocean. Genji was ecstatic and Hanzo seemed quite excited to see it too, even if he didn’t openly say anything. They stayed in a room for a moment or two so their eyes could adjust to the low light levels, then they were free to go into the exhibit. Even though Jesse had been before, it was still quite cool to take another look at stuff like the glow-in-the-dark Jellyfish, and the black-light activated corals. Genji was completely in awe of all the lights coming from the different fish, running from this tank to that. Jesse told him to watch where he was going in case he knocked someone over, but the aquarium was actually pretty empty. It was a weekday so kids were at school and adults were working. The few people who were in the aquarium that day were staff members, one class on a field trip, and some tourists. Genji stated as much, and Jesse couldn’t argue, just telling him to make sure he didn’t run into a wall. Hanzo was silent for most of the exhibit, but when they left his eyes were filled with wonder.

~

After going through the whole aquarium, the trio went to the cafe that was connected to the giftshop. Jesse ordered three cupcakes, three hot chocolates and two BLT sandwiches while Genji and Hanzo wandered around the gift shop, each with fifty dollars to spend. Jesse was sat at a table waiting for their return, when a giant seahorse plushie landed in the seat next to him.

“Jesse! Guess what I bought!” Genji exclaimed, pulling up a chair so both himself and the seahorse got their own seats.

“A hot tub?” Jesse asked, grinning innocently. Genji burst out laughing.

“Your jokes never fail to amuse, cowboy! I actually bought a pet giraffe.” He deadpanned, not quite managing to keep his lips from twitching into a brief smile. Jesse chuckled.

“Can I see it sometime?” He asked, giving Genji one of the meals.

“Sure, you can come to my house. While you’re there you can meet my giant seahorse.” The Shimada replied, smiling at the cupcake. It was vanilla with blue frosting and a fondant beach chair with a tiny umbrella. “This is adorable.” He cooed, unwrapping the cupcake and taking a bite.

“Ya think so? It’s pretty fittin’ for the aquarium. Where’s yer brother?” Jesse asked, glancing around. As if summoned by magic, Hanzo sat in the chair next to him. He placed a small koi carp plush on the table, taking his plate from the tray.

“Koi carp?” Jesse asked quietly. Hanzo looked tense

“It… It reminds me of my home in Hanamura. I had a pond with three of them in the garden outside my room. I had to leave them behind when we moved to America.” The Shimada explained softly, blinking at his cupcake. Jesse sighed.

“When I left deadlock, I left behind what I knew for so long. I left behind my killin’, my thievin’... I left behind my only friends. They treated me well, didn’t let me starve, didn’t let me get into trouble. And I left some of ‘em to rot in jail while I got adopted. Dunno what happened to the rest of ‘em. I begged Gabe to help everyone else, too. He said he couldn’t. He was tellin’ the truth. They did some bad shit. Suppose they got what they deserved, but… I wish I could’ve helped ‘em redeem themselves.” Jesse stared at his plate of food as he spoke. When he looked up, he cleared his throat. “I… I’m sorry, that’s not really the… the same thing…” He felt his cheeks getting hot as he met eyes with Hanzo, who was staring at him intensely.

“I did not know you were a part of deadlock. My father helped take down that gang.” He said quietly. Jesse blinked.

“Oh, yeah- the like, the police an’ army did raids on ‘em a lot, takin’ any hostages an’ what not. I was taken away because I was so young, I was alone an’ scared an’ I needed help. Gabe took me away, cleaned me up, adopted me, sent me to school. Little while later the papers tell me deadlock was officially disbanded.” Jesse explained. He didn’t like this. “So, whaddya think of the cupcakes?” He asked, not allowing Hanzo to continue the deadlock conversation. Hanzo sighed.

“They go well with the theme.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o o f
> 
> you might notice the length of each chapters differ a lot. if i think a chapter is too short i might upload two, but don't quote me on that


	5. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse's home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gasp
> 
> swearing, watch out

Jesse quietly walked through the open front door of his house, putting down his keys on the table. Closing the door, he paused, listening for any signs of his family.

“Pa! Sombra! I’m home!” He called, taking off his jacket. He barely took two steps down the hall when a tall dark man stood in the doorway to the living room.

“Where the fuck have you been, hijo?” Gabe growled, crossing his arms. Jesse started like a puppy being caught knocking over a vase.

“I stayed at a friend’s house.” Jesse said vaguely. It wasn’t exactly a lie, he had slept in the Shimada house and Jesse knew he could at least classify Genji as a friend. Gabe glared at Jesse, clearly not convinced.

“Well, it couldn’t have been Fareeha. Ana came over today to chat and she didn’t mention you being at their place at all. And I highly doubt it was Lena. She popped round this morning to ask you to go shopping. It was heartbreaking for me to be the one to tell her you had disappeared without a trace.” Gabe said dryly. Jesse blinked. He couldn’t tell Gabe the truth. He had told Sojiro he would forget about the whole kidnapping thing.

“I decided I wanted to hang out with some new friends.” Jesse said carefully. If he was too specific the whole story would come tumbling out. If he was too vague Gabe would be more furious. Jesse hated how his pa could always tell when he was lying. The bastard never told him how he knew so Jesse couldn’t avoid giving things away in the future.

Gabe raised one eyebrow. “You sure, hijo? When I last checked you promised to be home asap.” He showed Jesse their last text conversation, proof that Jesse had gone against his word. Jesse sucked in his breath, trying to think of an excuse. But there was nothing. Nothing but the truth.

“I- I met some brothers, and I- I stayed at their house. They’re from Japan and their father wants me to be friends with them ‘cause they haven’t met any locals and I really like them- there’s the younger one Genji he’s funny an’ he has green hair an’ then there’s Hanzo an’ he’s a loner but I really like him too an’ I shouldn’ta disappeared without tellin’ ya but I was exhausted an’ my phone ran outta battery.” Jesse said it all quickly, his cheeks flushing red. Gabe paused for a moment, taking in what he had said. Or maybe he was trying to sort through Jesse’s accent, which had gotten thicker as he talked faster. After a moment Gabe shook his head.

“If you don’t want to tell me the truth, that’s fine. But if you’re doing anything illegal I swear-” Jesse’s eyes widened.

“What?! Didn’t you listen to anything I just said? I’m not commitin’ crimes, Gabe, I-” Jesse growled, putting his face in his hands. “What’s wrong with you?” He asked, furious that Gabe didn’t trust him. His pa seemed taken aback, surprised by Jesse’s outburst. Gabriel squared his shoulders, dark brown eyes glaring furiously into Jesse’s own.

“Watch it, McCree. I don’t care if you made friends with the fucking Queen of England, you don’t have the right to talk back to me like that.” Gabe stepped towards Jesse and both of them were completely still for a few moments, Gabriel looming over Jesse as his son held his arms up ready to defend himself.

“Jesse.” A female voice cut in. “You shouldn’t have stayed out all night and day. We were worried sick. I know you’re not telling us the full truth and you don’t have to, but you should have at least tried to contact us.” It was Jesse’s sister, Sombra. “If you really did meet those brothers, you still should have made sure we knew you were safe. But you can be brash and I understand if the thought didn’t cross your mind.” She stood next to Gabe, a large raven clinging to her forearm. Jesse blinked at her, processing what she was saying. She was right. He should have tried to contact them. It was cruel that he hadn’t made sure they were aware he was safe. He blinked as his sister turned to Gabe.

“Pa. Jesse has a right to be mad. You’re assuming he’s lying about doing illegal things. You know he’s past this and it’s bad of you to think so lowly of him. I understand where you’re coming from, it’s not normal for Jesse to stay out so long, but you shouldn’t have assumed the worst. Before you decide if someone is lying, ask them for proof of their claims. The story is unusual, but it’s definitely possible Jesse is telling the truth. You lashed out, and that’s justified, but you need to apologize to Jesse. And he needs to apologize to you as well.” That was Sombra, the voice of reason. She was studying to be a psychiatrist and got a lot of practise from her brother and pa. Gabe paused, probably deciding whether or not he was going to cool it or get angrier at his kids. Jesse preferred the former, so he spoke up.

“Pa, I’m sorry for stayin’ out all night. I really did meet the two brothers. I- I know it sounds hard to believe, but it’s true. I’m sorry for back talkin’ ya too.” He glanced at Sombra, who was stroking the raven on her arm softly. “I’m sorry to you too, sis. I- I should have contacted you.” Jesse added, scratching the nape of his neck. Sombra smiled.

“It’s okay, Jessito. I’m just glad you’re back.” She murmured. Gabe sighed.

“Sorry, kid. I was really worried when you didn’t come home. Decided you’d be back soon enough and went to bed. Gotta say it was a bit scary when you didn’t answer your phone the whole day. But, I let my mind run away. Of course you weren’t doing anything illegal. That’s not who you are.” Gabe didn’t quite meet Jesse’s eyes, clearly embarrassed. There was a pause between the three, the apologies settling in for a few moments. Although Jesse still felt bad, he had to admit he was relieved the argument ended like this instead of a full blown shouting match. Eventually Sombra spoke up, her authoritarian tone lost, replaced by an intrigued casual one.

“You met some brothers.” She said quietly. Jesse took out his phone, finding the selfie he had taken.

“Wow, yeah, dead phone indeed.” Gabe remarked sarcastically, smiling.

“Their dad charged it for me all day, I only got it back like an hour ago!” Jesse protested, grinning back.

~

Jesse sat at the table, lazily holding his phone in one hand and his slice of pizza in another. He was texting Genji, talking about his family. The Shimada said he was still enthusiastic to meet Jesse’s friends and family and asked when he could.

“You gonna eat that pizza, or just stare at it another five minutes?” Gabe cut through his son’s thoughts, startling the cowboy back to reality. Jesse blinked.

“Genji wants to hang out tomorrow and meet some o’ my friends, but I’ve gotta go help Ana.” He murmured, pausing before realizing that he was meant to eat his pizza now. Gabe chewed for a moment, thinking.

“Well, Ana’s a friend, what if you take him and Hanzo to the pet shop? I’m sure Fareeha will be there too. Do the Shimadas have pets?” Gabe asked. Jesse shrugged.

“Dunno. I’ll suggest it anyway.” He said, quickly typing out a message to Genji. He got a reply almost immediately, Genji seemed to love the idea of a pet store. Jesse sent a quick text to Hanzo to tell him about it, but he wasn’t sure if the older Shimada would want to come. He did however seem quite fascinated with animals at the aquarium, Jesse was sure of that. But carrying a bunch of dog food bags and cleaning fish tanks wasn’t really a very fun experience, even if it did mean you got up close and personal with Ana’s animal friends. Jesse smiled as Hanzo decided he would join them. Well, now to tell Ana where on Earth he’d been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cough
> 
> did I do a spanish?
> 
> look at that Sombra's the voice of reason who saw that coming


	6. Pets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's it like to work in a pet store? I don't know, but I wrote about it anyway!

Jesse smiled as a familiar bell rang when he walked into the store. Ana’s pet shop was filled with the sound of birds chirping, the occasional dog bark, and a cat meowing happily. And fish- swimming? But they were silent… Jesse had to admit, he worked with so many animals but knew nothing about them. Even after months of hanging around the pet shop, he still didn’t know what sound a rabbit made. Did they make sounds, though? He had no idea. The squawks, meows, and barks, however, were welcoming that day, and at the counter stood Ana Amari herself. Ana wasn’t too old, in her fifties if Jesse remembered correctly, and she had a military background like Gabe. She wore a blue cloak covering her braided white hair and a black long sleeved top. Her left eye was tattooed, while her right wore an eyepatch. Ana was both the scariest and kindest woman Jesse had ever met.

“Howdy Ana! I brought my friends, as promised!” Jesse said, leading the two Shimada brothers to the counter.

“Well, hello there! You must be Genji and Hanzo! Ana Amari, this is my pet shop.” Ana stepped round the counter and held out her hand, which Hanzo shook politely.

“Shimada Hanzo. Thank you for allowing us to be here. My father wants us to learn more about America and what we will find here.” He said, glancing around the petshop with a carefully polite blank face. Genji, however, was completely in awe of the animals, and Jesse watched him, amused as he put his hands up to the cages. Ana smiled at the brothers.

“Would you like to meet the animals while Jesse is on feeding duty? My daughter will be here in a little while.” She said, gesturing to the cage nearest to them. Jesse sighed, cracking his knuckles.

“Alright, I’ll feed ‘em. But I get to walk around with y’all and show you the animals.” He insisted, not letting Ana argue as he went to the back to get the bags of food.

“I wouldn’t expect any less!” She called after him, chuckling quietly.

~

Jesse smiled at the cat. “You really got him just yesterday?” He asked, glancing at Ana. She was opening the can of wet food to feed the old white cat, who mewed at her enthusiastically.

“Indeed. I do think he’s rather cute, don’t you? I’d say he’s about 10 years old, possibly 11. He was handed in by my friend Jack, who found him on the streets. He said the little guy had been hanging around his house for the past few weeks, clearly a stray. His daughter wanted to keep it, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take care of a cat. It’s rather a shame.” She said, scratching at the cat’s chin as she poured the cat food onto the saucer. “He was pretty grouchy at first, he wouldn’t let me pick him up, but he’s really warmed up to me.” Ana added, refilling his water bowl as well. Genji spoke up.

“Have you named him?” He asked, crouching down to smile at the cat.

“Jack said he was called Soldier. I’m wondering if I should move him into the other cage yet. He does seem like quite a loner, but company would be good for him.” Ana replied, looking over at the other cage. There was one sleek furred brown she-cat glaring at a large fluffy white dog who was playing with a toy bone. Jesse smiled.

“Well, maybe Pharah and Crusader should have a new friend.” He suggested, leaning down to pat the large dog. The two animals in the cage were friends, even if Crusader would occasionally chase the cat. Jesse believe the dog was somewhat like a father figure to the defiant kitty. While many cats and dogs were in and out of Ana’s shop every few weeks, Pharah and Crusader were not up for adoption. They were both difficult to control, Crusader loving to charge around and make a mess, Pharah incredibly independant and mysterious, she enjoyed hiding and causing panic. Jesse wouldn’t actually have minded adopting one of them for himself, but Ana insisted they were to stay with her. Oh well, there wasn’t a shortage of strays who’d eventually end up in the pet shop.

When Ana had finished feeding the cats and dogs she paused, thinking for a moment. “Maybe Gabriel should consider getting a pet, Jesse. Especially if Sombra likes to lock herself away in her room, and you’ve started disappearing in the middle of the night.” Ana said slyly, clearly teasing Jesse. Hanzo tensed, but Genji laughed.

“Yes, Jesse! I know we’re great, but to neglect you poor father just so you can hang out with us? Truly, it is an honour.” He said, bowing to Jesse.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Gabe doesn’t need a pet. Besides, Pharah and Crusader don’t really suit him.” Jesse muttered, annoyed that he was being picked on. The only pet his family had was Sombra’s Raven, Reaper, and he didn’t really like anyone besides from his owner. Hanzo, who had been quiet for most of the conversation so far, finally added his opinion.

“Perhaps he might like Soldier. From what I can tell, they are both the solitary type.” He said quietly. Jesse paused, glancing at the new white cat.

“Good point, Shimada…”

~

Genji smiled at the birds. “They are very adorable. Perhaps we should get some, brother.” He suggested, glancing at his brother. The young Shimada had taken a liking to a pale green budgie with black spotted wings. Jesse found it quite funny how Genji was in awe of animals the cowboy saw all the time. He came in to work on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. That day was a Wednesday, thank god he hadn’t missed work because of the aquarium trip. Jesse briefly wondered whether or not Sojiro had planned all of this, when he realized something.

“Genji, aren’t you meant to be in school?” He asked, turning to the Shimada. Genji started as if he had been slapped in the face.

“Uh, well… I have a tutorer, to teach me more about english -and I do regular stuff like math and science and whatever, but that’s only three times a week. My father has set it up so I learn as much as is required but I have a lot of free time. He believes my hobbies should be put in front of education on my list of priorities.” Genji explained, seeming uncomfortable with having to talk about it. It confused Jesse, as school was normally a very carefree conversation topic. Did he not go to school in Japan? Did he get bullied? Jesse didn’t understand why Genji had lost his happy-go-lucky aura, but decided not to question it. It wasn’t really his place to pry into the Shimada’s - well, any of the Shimadas’ - experiences in Japan. Deciding to save Genji from anymore awkward silence, Jesse turned to Hanzo.

“Yeah, how ‘bout a pet for yourselves? We’ve got birds, rodents, maybe a raccoon if you’re lucky.” He joked, glancing around at all the cages. Work was always much funner with new and unusual pets. “And lots of pretty fish.” The cowboy added, slightly hinting at the conversation about koi carp they had at the aquarium. “There’s like, regular goldfish, fantails, Betta fish, a couple of those things- Blue tangs? The Dory fish. Clownfish, an’ those fish that clean the tanks for you, an’ I think we might have an axolotl?” Jesse listed off whatever he could remember, not sure if they had been here two days ago or two months ago. Hanzo gave him a blank stare, so Jesse quickly moved on to the other pets.

“And if ya don’t want fish there’s birds! Budgies, Cockatiels, a parakeet maybe, we’ve got pigeons, an’ maybe a chicken or two, real pretty like fellas, an’ even if ya don’t wanna bird there’s like rabbits an’ hamsters an’ guinea pigs an’ rats an’ mice an’ maybe even a squirrel or that might have been last week’s adventure didn’t that nice lady with the blue earrings adopt it or somethin’ I think she m-might have...” Jesse blinked as Genji placed a finger over the cowboy’s lips.

“Hush, Jesse. You are rambling. I did not understand any of what you just said.” He said. Jesse blushed, realizing how stupid he must sound.

“Right, yeah, sorry. I just thought-” He started, but Ana cut him off.

“Jesse, first of all, we’ve never had clownfish. Or axolotls. Secondly, the chickens are gone, we don’t have rats and the squirrel is hopefully far, far away. And you forgot the canaries.” She said, smiling at him gently. Jesse nodded.

“Right, I got a bit muddled. I’m just sayin’, if you want a pet we’ve got lots of options.” He murmured. Jesse glanced at Hanzo, who was staring at him, expressionless. He muttered something quietly in Japanese.

“What? Sorry buttercup, as much as I love to hear you speak I’d like to understand what you’re sayin’. Haven’t gotten round to learnin’ any Japanese yet.” Jesse said, smirking as Hanzo’s cheeks blushed faintly. The colour quickly faded and Hanzo pretended he had not heard the pet name, nor the compliment.

“I do not believe you have a pet that can suit my preferences.” He replied. Jesse glanced at Genji, who seemed to be struggling not to laugh. Hanzo ignored his brother completely, however, looking around at the different cages in the store. What had he said? Was it an inside joke? Had he insulted Jesse?

“Well darlin’, what is yer type?” Jesse asked slyly, carefully wording the question so Hanzo could take it however he liked. Jesse did this as he fully intended to listen to Hanzo list exactly what the cowboy should change about himself. No, wait, what? Why would he change himself for Hanzo? The Shimada opened his mouth to reply, when a bell made them all jump. Spinning around, Jesse was horrified to see the visitor. Standing in the doorway was none other than Fareeha Amari, daughter of Ana, captain of every sports team she had ever joined, and Jesse’s number one best friend and tormentor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shoot it's 'reeha watch out  
> any ideas for what hanzo said?
> 
> quick question, is everyone okay with this fic containing pharmercy in the future?
> 
> I just want to know what readers would be eager to see out of all the ships in overwatch. if you really like a certain ship, feel free to tell me in the comments and I might decide to make it a part of this fic.


	7. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fareeha's here to ruin Jesse's day :)

“Hey Mum! You said Jesse would-” Fareeha stopped, staring at Jesse and the Shimadas. She put down her bag, looking over the strangers carefully for a few moments.

“So you’re the guys who stole him from us.” She joked, smiling. Genji laughed.

“Indeed. We are truly irresistible.” He said, extending a hand. “Genji Shimada. A pleasure to meet you.” Fareeha shook his hand cheerfully.

“Fareeha Amari. Nice to meet you too, Genji.” She replied, turning to Genji’s brother. “Shimada Hanzo. Nice to meet you.” The two shook hands as well, and Jesse was unimpressed.

“Pretty formal introductions, don’t ya think?” He asked, inspecting his nails and leaning against a pillar in an attempt to express his definitely not overly exaggerated boredom. Fareeha rolled her eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with being polite, Jesse. But you’ve never had good manners, huh?” She asked teasingly, nudging Jesse with her elbow. Jesse stood up straight, glaring at her. “You lil shit, don’t you-” Fareeha cut him off, quickly dodging his attempts to cover her mouth.

“One time Jesse and I were in the mall and we were looking at phones and a lady asked if we needed help and Jesse said why would we need her help if the phones had all the information about them written on little stickers and then the lady just smiled but you could tell she was really angry and it was so embarrassing that he would be so rude so we left and never went back!” She said in a rush. Jesse shoved her towards a pile of cardboard boxes and she tripped, catching herself with outstretched arms. After a few seconds of laughing, she collapsed defeatedly, lying on her back and clutching her stomach as she cackled away.

“God dammit ‘Reeha did you havta tell ‘em ‘bout that?” Jesse asked, folding his arms sulkily. Genji had burst out laughing as soon as Fareeha finished her sentence, and was currently clutching his chest, wheezing while Jesse glared at him.

“You are ridiculous, Jesse!” He exclaimed, slapping the counter as he struggled to breath. Hanzo was smirking to himself, and Ana had an expression of mixed amusement and disappointment.

“I was 14 alright, I didn’t fuckin’ know how to be polite to adults.” Jesse tried to defend himself, but no-one seemed to care. “That poor woman.” Hanzo said quietly, failing to stifle a chuckle. Genji coughed, still struggling with his laughing fit. “You are a monster, Cowboy.” He wheezed. Fareeha Amari, the best at telling embarrassing stories about Jesse.

~~

Fareeha nodded slowly. “Well, a pet. I don’t know, they’re all good. I’d recommend the birds, good for first time pet owners. Fish are pretty basic too, as long as you don’t mind cleaning tanks every so often. We’ll probably get some new cats or dogs soon, though they might be in and out pretty quick. I could definitely keep you up to date with any new pets we get though.” She explained, gesturing to the rest of the store. Hanzo seemed thoughtful, but Genji kept his opinion - which was utter enthusiasm - in plain sight.

“Yes! I would love a pet! I especially like this bird, but any would be fine!” He said, pointing to the green and black budgie in the cage. Fareeha smiled.

“Sure, you can get that. You’d better ask a guardian first, though.” She suggested. Genji nodded and quickly grabbed his phone, while Hanzo inspected the birds carefully. “While you make those decisions, can I have a private chat with Jesse?” Fareeha added, glancing at McCree. Jesse gave her a confused look, but said nothing. Ana nodded. “Yes, yes, go talk with Jesse. I can show you some other animals if you’d like.” The shop owner said, grabbing Hanzo’s arm. Jesse was dragged away.

“Tell me.” Fareeha said firmly, sitting on the other office chair. Jesse felt like he was under police investigation. That really shouldn’t be something he’s able to compare this to, should it?

“Tell you what?” He asked innocently, glancing around Ana’s small office. This was where she filed paperwork, info on adopted pets, vet records, bills, everything she needed to keep track of. Jesse was glad she was able to do all that by herself. He was good with feeding and looking after animals, but clowns, doctors, and taxes were his greatest fears. Fareeha glared at Jesse.

“You know what I’m talking about. The Shimadas. Who are they? Why did you disappear without a trace yesterday? Why are they your priority all of a sudden?” She asked, staring at him intensely. Jesse blinked, not sure what to say. Should he tell her the truth? That he was kidnapped? No, he couldn’t. A lie. What lie had he told Gabe?

“I met them on Monday night, stayed at their place. Hung out yesterday.” He said casually, forcing himself to stay relaxed. Fareeha wouldn’t know he was lying, it sounded believable enough. She seemed to half accept his answer, but kept her skeptical expression.

“Why are you spending so much time with them? Mum said you were hanging out with them all day yesterday, at the aquarium of all places. You never go to the aquarium, Jesse.” She said, glaring at him.

“Their father wanted me to spend time with them. Be their guide. They’ve been here for like a year, ‘Reeha, and so far they don’t seem to have any friends besides me.” Jesse explained, careful not to give away too many details.

“So, what, you’re working for their dad? Does he pay you? Come on, Jesse-” Fareeha’s voice broke, confusion and sadness seeping into her words.

“No, no- ‘Reeha, he has offered me money, but I refused it. I honestly like Genji and Hanzo. I want to be friends with them, yeah, but I don’t want to because their dad will pay me money. I like workin’ here, with you an’ Ana. Money can’t buy friendship, an’ I don’t want the Shimadas to think it can. I disappeared because I was stupid an’ I didn’t call anyone or try to get in touch. I just got caught up in havin’ fun, an’- an’...” Jesse trailed off. Over the course of him speaking Fareeha’s expression had gone from hurt, to understanding, to purely amused.

“What?” Jesse asked, folding his arms. Fareeha glanced away, smiling to herself. “Nothing.” She replied slyly, folding her own arms back. Jesse sighed. “What is it, ‘Reeha?” He muttered. Fareeha snickered. “You really seem to have a thing for those guys, huh?”

The pause between the two teens seemed to last for years. Jesse blushed. “What?!” He asked, tensing. Fareeha kept smiling.

“I dunno, Jesse, I never really thought you’d be into the ‘cute little trouble maker’ type. Or is it Hanzo? ‘Lonewolf but a sweetheart inside’ thing? I have to say, he seems like the type to outwit you. Better get him quick, you’ll never find someone like that again.” She teased, smirking at him. Jesse felt his cheeks flush redder.

“No, I- I don’t like him that way! O-Or Genji! I only met them two days ago, we’re just friends!” He exclaimed, furious that the thought of having a crush on one of the Shimadas made him blush.

“Ooh, him, huh? So you are thinking of Hanzo?” Fareeha asked, leaning forward. Jesse knew he should try to calm down before speaking again, his country accent got worse when he was worked up, but embarrassment and anger forced him to try defend himself.

“Shuddup, ‘Reeha! I don’t like either of ‘em that way!” Right after he said it, Jesse realized getting so defensive was just adding fuel to the fiery ship Fareeha was clearly forming. She cackled with delight.

“You’re hilarious when you try to lie, Jesse! Don’t worry, I won’t tell darwing widdle Hanzo you wike him.” She practically purred, enjoying Jesse’s embarrassment far too much. He groaned, putting his face in his hands.

“I don’t like Hanzo.” He muttered. The more he thought about it, though, the more the idea seemed to push through the walls Jesse had around his love life. Yay, that sure was fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nice


	8. Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse's home!  
> ...again.
> 
> but something's wrong  
> ...again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also sticking to the separate dialogue set up

Jesse smiled as he watched Genji and Hanzo close the door. He had walked home with them, patiently listening as Genji went on and on about how he wanted to get his bird now, not in two days. When Jesse’s conversation with Fareeha had finished, Ana had taken a phone call. After that she had seemed sad, but hadn’t addressed it, simply saying Genji could collect the bird on Friday. Jesse found it amusing how the young Shimada was so enthusiastic about a budgie. The only bird Jesse knew was Reaper, and he had always been a jerk. Reaper was quite a contrast to his owner, Sombra. Jesse’s sister always made an effort to be kind and caring. She always asked Jesse how his day was, what he was doing in the weekend? How was Ana - did she take care of the loud dog next door? When would Jesse be able to play some video games? Jesse never admitted it, but he was very thankful that Sombra did these things. Jesse liked everyone, but Sombra was his favourite because she was excessively nice. On days when Jesse had an argument with Gabe, or made a joke Lena took offense to, Sombra would explain what went wrong, and what to do about it. Sombra considered everyone. She talked about both sides of the story, and things he could do to earn forgiveness. Jesse made far too many mistakes, but he knew he could count on Sombra to clean up after him. Well, maybe he could tell her that if he stopped staring at where the brothers had disappeared and started walking home.

Jesse opened the front door and found himself overwhelmed with the smell of cake. Something was wrong. Jesse found the source of the cake smell in the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, it was cakes. But what worried him was that there were three of them, not just one.

“You alright, Gabe?” Jesse asked gently, watching as his pa piped chocolate frosting on top of the coffee-chocolate cake.

“Yes.” Gabe replied sternly, not moving his gaze from the cakes. Jesse glared. Cake was only made for special occasions - there was nothing special going on for at least a month -, or if something was very, very wrong.

“That’s a lotta cakes, huh?” Jesse muttered, annoyed that his pa wasn’t telling him the problem. He stared at his pa for a few moments, pulled back to reality when his sister grabbed his arm.

“He isn’t saying why he’s upset. He had a phone call with Ana at midday, and after that he started baking.” Sombra said, her concerned gaze directed at their father. Jesse blinked.

“Really? Ana did talk to someone around then. She seemed upset afterwards too.” He said quietly, watching as Gabe put the red velvet cake on top of the chocolate.

“Gabe, red velvet and coffee is gross.” Jesse said loudly. His father didn’t respond.

“Oh yeah, you depend on that caffeine with your life. Can’t believe I forgot.” He added sarcastically. Normally Gabe would snap at Jesse for sass, or insist anything with coffee was holy. Not now, apparently.

“I’m going to go find out what’s wrong. Do you want to come?” Sombra said, going to the doorway. Jesse nodded, and with one last glance back at Gabe, followed Sombra.

The front door of their house lead to a hallway, with one door on the left and one on the right. The left went to the living room, and the right was a study. There was an arch between the living room and the kitchen. The study was quite large, with two desktop computers and stairs going up to the second level of their house. Upstairs was a bathroom, grey tiles, a shiny white toilet and a grey sink, as well as a shower-bath hybrid. Also upstairs were the bedrooms, all three of them. Sombra’s was painted purple with a lilac queen sized bed. She had a white desk with a custom purple PC, her signature cute white skull icon decorating it. The whole house was incredibly expensive, Gabe had spent most of his savings on each and every part of it. Jesse supposed being in command of some special team in the military would pay a lot, and Gabe had saved up most of what he got. He retired when he adopted Jesse, moving to the small town they lived in now. For a while Gabe had seemed lost, but he eventually forgot whatever it was making him miss the military. Sombra had only been here for a year and a half if Jesse remembered correctly, but it felt like Jesse had known her his whole life. She had been so timid, so afraid when she first joined Jesse and Gabe’s family. She couldn’t trust them, she’d been in and out of families and homes her whole life. But now, she loved them with all her heart, Jesse knew that for sure.

Sombra smiled at the raven on the perch. Jesse was still confused as to how she could love such a cold, cruel being. Well, actually, Reaper could be nice sometimes. Jesse had once been at home by himself and a bad memory came back to haunt him. Reaper had sat on his perch, watching for a while, before he actually got on the ground and nuzzled Jesse’s hand. At first, Jesse thought the bird was trying to bite him, but Reaper had seemed genuinely concerned. When Jesse had calmed down, reminding himself it was just a memory, they had gone back to barely tolerating each other. But it was with a bit less ‘get out of my house you demon and stop stealing Sombra’ after that day. At least for Jesse.

“Figure out why Pa’s mad?” Jesse asked Sombra, who was searching something on Google.

“I’m not sure if I’ve found it, but there are some possibilities.” Sombra murmured, pulling up a news article. “Many in Dorado are worried for their safety as criminal activities increase. It’s possible the cause is the Los Muertos Gang emerging from the ashes from the last time they were defeated. The local police insist they have it under control, but people are still on edge.” She read. There was a pause while Jesse processed it. Sombra had once been in Los Muertos, he was pretty sure, but he could be wrong. “Pa took down that gang, but it seems like they might be back. That could be why he’s upset.” Sombra explained, opening a new tab.

“But.” She added. “There’s something Pa said to me. He was a part of Overwatch at some point, we know that, and he left for you, but why not just keep you with Overwatch? Fareeha lived on Head Quarters for twelve years, why couldn’t you?” Sombra clicked on her bookmark, opening another news article. This one was much older.

“Strike Commander decides Deadlock’s fate once and for all.” She read the title. There was a photo of a handsome man with golden yet greying hair and blue eyes smiling at the camera. He was standing at a podium, wearing a suit. Jesse tilted his head. He was sure he had seen that man before.

“Jack Morrison,” Sombra continued, “Strike Commander of Overwatch, has announced he will take down all members of the Deadlock gang. No matter what, all of them will go to jail or be executed. He has stated this is not up for debate, he wants all members quarantined, and he’s not taking chances with the gang. This has received mixed responses from the public. Many support the Strike Commander, as it will ensure the safety of many, many families. Others are not so sure, as they believe Overwatch should have mercy.” She said, leaning back in the chair. Jesse wasn’t surprised by that, though he was a bit shocked Overwatch hadn’t wanted to help Deadlock at all. Sombra went on.

“We spoke to one man who disagrees with what the Strike Commander has decided. Lt Gabriel Reyes, in charge of wellbeing of soldiers as well as organization of large groups of criminals, told us what he thinks.” Jesse listened carefully as she continued. “Quote, ‘The Strike Commander is generalizing the term criminal. He thinks that all members of Deadlock are bad. That simply isn’t true. There are people there who are mentally ill, people who are treated like slaves and can’t do anything about it. Children are trapped in that gang and if they try to leave they’ll be killed. We shouldn’t lock all of them away, we need to help them. We’re supposed to look after those who are in need, but the Strike Commander wants to hide our problems away and pretend they don’t exist.’ We’re surprised that the Lieutenant has disagreed with the Strike Commander, but he brings up a good point.” Had Jesse’s pa really said that? It was true, actually, about the people in Deadlock. But, he went against the Strike Commander of Overwatch?

Sombra glared at the screen. “Pa did have a point. I don’t care who this Jack is, if he thinks just because a person is a criminal it means they chose and want to be one, he’s not worthy of being Strike Commander.” She said coldly. This had struck a chord with the normally happy-go-lucky teen. Jesse carefully took in what the article was saying, connecting the dots for a moment.

“Wait, did that really happen? Are all of them in jail?” He asked, blinking at the screen.

“Most of them. Some are dead. You would be with them too if it weren’t for pa. He knew the Strike Commander, he must have made a compromise for you.” Sombra murmured.

Jesse’s eyes widened. “Trapped?” He whispered. Jack Morrison. Jack Morrison. Jack Morri- It clicked. “Ana’s got history with the army n’ stuff too, right? If she knew pa, she probly knew Jack!” Jesse exclaimed.

Sombra paused for a moment and Jesse could practically see the gears locking into place as she thought about it.

“If she was a part of the original Overwatch, she, Pa and Jack would definitely have known each other. Jack Morrison declared all members of Deadlock would be locked away. Pa would have disagreed with him, but Jack insisted his decision was final. Pa couldn’t be heard, so he would have had to have adopted you and left the military. Ana was a part of it, too. Pa said she left before he did, remember? She might have mentioned Jack in that phone call today.” She said, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Jesse nodded. “Ana told me that yesterday her friend Jack dropped off a cat. Could it be the same guy?” He asked. Sombra shrugged.

“I dunno. Apparently The Strike Commander retired a couple of years ago. Might have moved here, actually. Did Ana say anything else?” She asked, opening a document. That was Sombra’s most prized possession. In that document she wrote down everything. Jesse was pretty sure everyone he had ever met had their family tree in that one document. Sombra did research on everyone. She wanted information, to know everything and anything about everyone and anyone, even if she had to stretch her limits. Quite a few pages were dedicated to Jesse himself. His ma, his time in deadlock, settling into life with Gabe. He had told her most of it, but she had actually managed to find info about him on the internet. Info Jesse didn’t even remember.

Jesse was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he saw a patch of bright green flash on the screen.

“What was that?” He asked.

“Nothing.” His sister replied. Jesse narrowed his eyes.

“You sure?” He asked. It was alarmingly similar to Genji’s hair colour. She hadn’t gone and found out about the Shimadas, had she?

“It’s nothing, Jessito.” Sombra muttered. Shaking his head, Jesse watched as Sombra went to a new page. She started typing what she had found out.

“Did Ana say anything else?” Sombra repeated.

“Well, she said his daughter wanted to keep the cat, but he knew he couldn’t look after it.” Jesse shrugged, struggling to remember if she had mentioned any other important info. Sombra sighed.

“Well, Ana probably called Pa and let it slip, then he would have gotten info out of her. He wouldn’t be this mad if it was just some random guy called Jack.” She said, shaking her head.

“So what do we do about it?” Jesse asked.

“Wounds heal, Jesse, but they leave scars. This whole situation cut deep. Pa lost a person he was really close to back then, but he got over it. Now, though, I think the wounds have opened again.” She murmured. Jesse sighed. He knew all too well how much these kinds of things hurt.

“Damn. I guess I’ll go check on the cakes…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um
> 
> Drama af when did this get depressing


	9. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope the cakes are alright
> 
> I hope Gabe's alright

Shaking his head, Jesse watched as Gabe put more frills around the edges of the cake. “What’re you gonna do with all that?” He asked, leaning against the wall.

“Throw it away.” Gabe didn’t skip a beat, and he didn’t bother to look at Jesse.

“Isn’t that a waste?” Jesse asked.

“Yes.” Was the reply. The cowboy sighed.

“Listen, pa, Ana talked to me about something today-” Jesse started, but Gabe cut him off, glaring at the cake.

“I don’t care what Ana said, she was probably lying. She lies too much.” Gabe growled. Jesse frowned.

“Right, well, she had a good point with what she said. She thinks you should get a pet. I’m always hanging out with Lena and ‘Reeha, and Sombra locks herself away in her room. It’d be good for you to have someone to talk to.” Jesse explained, standing up straight. Gabe paused, finally looking up from his baking.

“What pet did she have in mind?” He asked gruffly. He was pretending not to care, but Jesse could see right through his façade. Gabe only went into work when he had to do meetings or emergency cases, and that normally only happened a few times a week. He had tried taking up different hobbies like gardening and painting, but Jesse knew his pa felt restless.

“Well, it won’t really fix the problem with lack of exercise, I dunno how encouraging a cat can be, but she probably talked to you about him on the phone.” Jesse watched carefully as Gabe’s expression shifted from bored, to intrigued, to furious again. He was still upset about the phone call, then.

“A guy brought him in yesterday I think. He’s a cute kitty cat, ‘bout 10 years, doesn’t like strangers but I’m sure he would warm up to ya.” Jesse added, making sure not to mention the name Jack. Gabe shook his head.

“I don’t want a pet, Jesse.” He muttered, no heat behind his words.

“Yeah, you do.” Jesse retorted, raising an eyebrow at his pa. Gabe sighed.

“Fine. Friday. You bring that thing home. If I don’t like it, you take it back to Ana. If I do, which I won’t, I’ll keep it.” He snapped, turning back to the cake.

“Why are you mad at Ana?” Jesse asked quietly. Gabe shook his head.

“She’s been lying to me. She told me she hasn’t seen Jack in years. But he’s been here, in the city for twenty months. She suggested he come here. He has a daughter! He adopted a kid from an orphanage in Korea! Ana didn’t tell me he lives here! She didn’t tell him I live here! She lied to me!” Gabe’s voice got increasingly pained as he ranted.

“Why?” Jesse asked. His pa stopped.

“What?” Gabe murmured. Jesse repeated it.

“Why did she lie to you?” He asked his pa. Gabe shook his head again.

“Jack and I were furious at each other for awhile after he made the final choice about Deadlock, yet we never acted on our anger. But, when Ana left… The rage took over. I tried to kill him. He tried to kill me. We got so caught up in our argument the world around us started breaking. But as it got worse, I realized what was happening. I couldn’t let people get hurt because of it. I left him behind. I told him he would never have to see me again if I was allowed to take my kid and live a normal life. And he agreed.” Gabe sighed, staring at the floor. Jesse blinked.

“Maybe it’s good Ana lied to you.” He murmured. His pa said nothing more, returning to the cake.

~~

The rest of the evening went by with no-one talking to eachother. Jesse sent a few texts to Genji and Hanzo, pointless conversations about things along the lines of favourite colours and greatest fears. Jesse sat in his room texting, but he was restless. He went into the living room and tried watching TV, but he couldn’t focus. Would Gabe stay mad at Ana? Would Ana get angry back? Would she be angry at Jesse? Maybe he should lay low. He didn’t have work tomorrow, he could just close off contact and pretend he didn’t know what had happened. He sent a quick text to her telling her the arrangement about Soldier the cat, which she replied to quickly. Plan Make-Gabe-Not-Lonely-All-The-Time was a go. Good, now Jesse could just not talk to her until Friday. Play it safe. But, what should he do tomorrow? Did he have some friends he should hang out with? Lena. He should hang out with Lena. And the Shimadas. Genji and Lena would be good friends, right? Probably. They were both the type to be friends with anyone, which was a great start. Jesse sent a quick text to the both of them, asking if they’d like to go shopping in town tomorrow. After a moment of thought Jesse also sent the text to Hanzo. He wasn’t sure if the elder Shimada brother liked shopping, Hanzo e seemed to find a lot of American things tacky and untraditional. He might still come to be polite, though. Jesse actually quite liked the idea of going to stores and looking at silly earrings and colourful pens with Hanzo. He found those kinds of things fun and really cute, actually, but Hanzo would probably just say they were stupid. It didn’t really matter if Hanzo made fun of the things Jesse liked, he would still want to spend time with the Shimada. Making jokes about how unicorns are mythical beasts just like the dragon spirits Sojiro had mentioned. Hanzo would say they are not mythical, the spirits of the dragons are as real as you or I. He’d say it that way too, all posh like.

“Daydreaming, kid?” A voice asked, sitting next to Jesse. McCree flinched, turning to face the person. Gabe was smiling at him, amused with the dazed look on Jesse’s face.

“Wha- Naw, I’m just thinkin’.” Jesse defended himself, looking back at the replies on his phone.

“Thinking? What are you thinking about?” Gabe asked slyly, folding his arms.

“I’m gonna go shopping with Lena, Genji, and Hanzo tomorrow.” Jesse muttered, typing a string of smiley emojis into the box. No, wait, he didn’t use emojis, what was he doing putting their stupid faces into his text? Gabe scoffed.

“Is that all you’re thinking about?” He questioned, smirking.

“Yeah. Why’re ya askin’?” Jesse snapped, deleting the emojis from the message. Gabe shrugged.

“You seem distracted. Haven’t seen you so lost in thought before. Something to do with the Shimadas?” Gabe pressed. Jesse hated being investigated like this. He wanted to deny he was thinking about the Shimadas, but lying to Gabe got you nowhere.

“Yeah, I was thinkin’ about the Shimadas. It’s good ta have new friends.” Jesse muttered. Gabe wasn’t letting the conversation drop, which annoyed Jesse to no end.

“Just friends?” Jesse’s pa asked quietly. McCree twitched, his eyes locking with Gabe’s.

“Yes! I- I think so. I want to be friends with him. Them.” He stuttered, feeling his cheeks get hot. Gabe shook his head.

“Don’t get yourself hurt, Mijo.” He murmured, his eyes clouding for a moment. Jesse’s eyes widened.

“Why would he hurt me?” He asked softly. Would Han- Would a person hurt Jesse? Would they lie about having feelings for him so they could gain something? Gabe shrugged again.

“Might not mean to. He still could. But, it’ll hurt you even more if you never man up and tell him how you feel. That is, if you’re sure you like him that way.” Gabe turned up the TV, changing the channel to one of his shows.

“Hannah, I swear to god, if you choose Luciana over Bridget you’re dead to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't have a chapter without McHanzo!


	10. Scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear

Jesse was snapped out of his sleep. He was confused for a minute, before he heard the loud crash of thunder in the distance. Oh god. Jesse’s breath caught in his throat. Lightning flashed outside. He couldn’t move, his eyes fixated on the window as he barely heard the thunder. It wasn’t quiet because it was far away, just drowned out by his the ringing in his ears and the sound of his heart beating so hard his thought it would leap right out of his chest. Jesse flinched at another strike of light hurting his eyes. He paused for a moment, exhaling slowly. He knew the thunder was coming, but he was still terrified when it rumbled through the air. Jesse’s fixation was interrupted when he thought he heard someone swearing, before there was a knock at the door.

“Jesse! Are you awake?” Gabe called softly. Jesse couldn’t respond, his glazed eyes still staring outside. The door opened slowly and Gabe sighed sadly.

“Oh, Jesse.” He murmured softly, putting down the torch he was holding. “It’s okay, Mijo. Nothing will hurt you.” Gabe sat next to Jesse, who was barely taking in what his pa was saying.

Jesse had always hated thunderstorms. He had bad memories of them. There was one the day his mother died. There was one when he had almost died himself, at the hands of some psycho who thought Jesse was her dead son. God, he hated that memory. She screamed at him, insisting he belonged in the ground, where she had buried him. A man had come and saved Jesse from his untimely fate, but he had only been six years old then. It was traumatizing, not unlike the rest of his childhood. There was a thunderstorm when he was seven and had lost his only friend, a woman who always made sure he was happy. He missed her. And then a few weeks after that, about a month or two before Jesse’s eight birthday, there was another thunderstorm. As much as he hated the other memories, that one he could never forget. He had been on the run ever since the woman had sent him away. He knew she had done it to keep him safe, but he didn’t understand why she couldn’t go with him. He had been standing in a shop doorway, shivering in the rain as lightning flashed occasionally. He remembered it all too well. The sound of distant rumbling thunder, hiding the approaching footsteps. Then there was a sharp pain on the back of his head. He woke up in a prison cell, where a woman told him he would be living for the rest of his life. Well, at least that hadn’t come true. But that didn’t stop him from being horrified by lightning storms. There were plenty of other memories of thunderstorms, they always seemed to be tied to important events in his life. He wondered if the light was God telling people what to look for when they died. Bright light. White light. Bright white light. The thunder reminded Jesse of gunshots, he knew he’d heard far too many of them for his lifespan. In short, Jesse lived a bad life, and thunderstorms brought all the memories back.

Jesse blinked as Gabe spoke softly beside him.

“I was once outside in a storm. I was terrified. Thought I would die. I didn’t know what to do. But, guess which two idiots decided to go out in the storm, being battered with wind and rain in their dumb blue car, which honestly should have been struck by lightning, to pick me up?” He held Jesse close to him, protecting his son from his pain. Jesse was silent as Gabe answered his own question. “Jack and Ana. They almost died trying to save me from some wet clothes, an extra long shower and maybe getting struck by lightning. So, basically, they did it for no reason.” Gabe chuckled quietly. “Well, if they did have a reason, it would probably be because they loved me. Friends and family care for you no matter what.” He murmured. Jesse was momentarily distracted from the thunderstorm.

“What’re ya tryna say?” He asked, confused. That you shouldn’t be in a lightning storm? That Ana was insane? That you should read the weather forecast? Gee whizz, what advice. Gabe cleared his throat.

“I’m saying that me and Sombra are here for you, Jesse. We love you and you’re safe. Maybe you should try calling Fareeha or Lena. Or, one of those Shimadas. I know you hate the storm but there’s really nothing to worry about.” He explained. Jesse flinched as more thunder rumbled in the distance. Gabriel hugged him tight.

“It’s alright Jesse. You should do something to take your mind off it.” He insisted.

“A-Alright. I’ll call someone.” Jesse decided, reaching for his phone. Gabe stood up, smiling at Jesse.

“Good. Remember, it’s just a bit of electricity and some echoes. You’re around electricity all the time, and echoes can’t hurt you. Stay strong, kiddo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHHH this chapter wasn't late, it was only a few hours, I'm sorry ;-;
> 
> also, because this chapter is really short, I plan to upload another one tomorrow!


	11. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse made a call, talked to a friend. He's feeling better now! However, someone's decided to make sure of that.

Jesse blinked as there was a knock on his door. He rubbed his eyes, glancing out the window. Still grey and rainy, but the storm had mostly passed. Only barely managing to leave the warmth of his blankets, Jesse got up and opened the door.

“Lena?” He mumbled, blinking at his visitor.

“Hiya Jesse! Pretty bad storm last night. Heard you called someone though. I called someone too.” She said quickly, tugging at his arm. Lena always talked quickly, preferring to skip ‘boring things’ like small talk or even just explanations in favour of having more fun. Jesse had no time to ask why, what, who or how as Lena pulled him out onto the landing.

“Wait, hold on-” He tried to speak, but was ignored as Lena dragged him down the flight of stairs two at a time and he was taken into the living room, which he immediately froze at the sight of. What had happened to it? Well, he knew the answer. Lena got creative and turned it into a paradise. Everything was covered in blankets and pillows, and the furniture had been moved to make a circle around a coffee table with plates of slices, biscuits and cupcakes. It honestly looked like the most comfortable place in the world. The heater on the wall was on, and apparently Lena had dragged an electric one to put in a gap between two chairs. Sitting on the floor, leaning against a couch, were two Shimadas. Jesse thought he felt his heart stop, but he knew it hadn’t because of how loud it was drumming in his ears.

“What a sight for sore eyes.” He murmured softly, blinking at Genji and Hanzo. The older Shimada brother flushed pink, but smiled.

“You like the onesies, then?” He asked.

“Can’t deny I don’t, darlin’.” Jesse drawled, walking into the circle and sitting down. Jesus, there were like five layers of duvets piled up on the floor alone. Hanzo didn’t break eye contact with Jesse. Who knew the Shimada would look so cute dressed in a blue husky onesie?

“You do not look too bad yourself, considering you just woke up. And the fact that you’re wearing such tacky attire.” He muttered, raising an eyebrow at McCree’s ‘Screw you, I’m beautiful’ pyjamas. Jesse smirked.

“Well, sorry I don’t exactly meet yer standards. They must be pretty high if you see such beauty in a mirror everyday.” He replied. He briefly acknowledged Genji, who was dressed in a green dinosaur onesie, whispering something in Hanzo’s ear. The older Shimada shook his head, faint blush colouring his cheeks.

“Well, if I must be first in terms of handsomeness, you perhaps come second or third.” Hanzo said slyly. Jesse chuckled.

“You’re makin’ me blush, Han’. I’m gonna get diabetes from how sweet you’re bein’.” He purred. He wasn't sure if Hanzo was complimenting or insulting him, but it didn’t matter. The way his eyes shone when Jesse flirted with him, the way his shoulders shook when he was struggling not to laugh, it was the essence of gorgeous. Did Hanzo feel that way about Jesse or was he just joking? Was he trying to be nice? Did he think Jesse was only making friendly banter and he was just playing along?

“I think you’re more likely to get diabetes from all these sweets.” Hanzo murmured. Much to Jesse’s despair, he broke eye contact to look at the treats on the table. No, hold on, Jesse wasn’t upset about that. Why would he be upset being dragged from those gorgeous, dazzling, dreamy, flustered, beautiful fucking eyes? Oh god wait why were Jesse’s cheeks hot shit shit-

Following Hanzo’s gaze, Jesse’s eyes flickered over the baked goods.

“Who made this? How? Why?” He asked, shaking his head. Genji finally spoke up.

“It was yours truly! After hearing about how you don’t like storms, I stayed up for hours preparing everything!” He claimed, smiling brightly. Jesse stared at Genji for a moment, then let his gaze blink over the two other culprits, waiting for an explanation. Lena spoke up first.

“It was really bad last night. So we made a private group chat for just us three - well, four, including Sombra - and we made plans. Hanzo got all of these blankets, I got Gabe to let us set everything up, and Genji baked these.” Lena grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and began munching as she thought to herself for a few moments. “I think Sombra managed to order something online or whatever, not sure what it is but it’ll be here in maybe a month or two Sombra said.” She mumbled through the food. Jesse blinked.

“Well, thank y’all for that. It really means a lot to me that you’d put that much time and effort into makin’ all this.” He murmured with a smile, gripping the blankets in his fists. They were too sweet. All of this, for Jesse? It was silly. What had he done to deserve this? To deserve these friends?

“If you would prefer to go back to sleep, that is fine.” Genji murmured, covering his mouth as he yawned. Jesse suddenly realized the reality of the situation. They all looked exhausted.

“Y’all are idiots. Why would ya spend so long settin’ this up last night? What’s the time anyway?” He asked, looking around for a clock.

“8am.” Hanzo answered quietly, glancing at his phone.

“Aw shoot, y’all should get some sleep then. I don’t want ya sufferin’ for me.” Jesse said, frowning at them.

“Only if you sleep too Jesse!” Genji insisted, grabbing Jesse’s arm. The Shimada was much colder than Jesse, despite all the heating preparations.

“Alright fine, you can steal my warmth. Y’all are lucky I’m such a ray of sunshine.” Jesse purred, grabbing a few pillows. He glanced at Hanzo.

“Ya don’t have to sleep if ya don’t want to, Buttercup.” He said gently. Hanzo was a loner, he seemed to dislike being physically close to, well, even anywhere near others he hadn’t known for long. Genji and Lena, on the other hand, were extremely enthusiastic about cuddles and human contact, evident by the fact they held onto one of Jesse’s arms each and threw a blanket over themselves, ready to sleep straight away. However, Hanzo smiled softly at Jesse’s words.

“I am tired, I need rest, so I will sleep. Thank you for the thought though.” He replied, dusting off an already spotless couch and laying down a pillow and a blanket on it. He smoothed out the creases and Jesse watched, intrigued, as Hanzo went into the kitchen. A few moments later he returned with a few fly protectors and placed them over the food. That was a good idea actually, Jesse hadn’t thought of that. Hanzo was so smart… The Shimada blinked at Jesse and the two held eye contact for a moment, both wanting to say something but not sure if they should. Hanzo broke the stare and lay on the couch, pulling a duvet over him. Carefully freeing his arms from the grasps of his sleeping friends, Jesse pushed Lena and Genji to the side so he could lie down. He stole another glance at Hanzo, who had closed eyes and was breathing in and out slowly, streaks of his dark hair falling down over his face. Truly, the essence of gorgeous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sombra bought something, huh? What do you think she got?
> 
> Just a friendly reminder that I love reading any comments I get on my fic! Whether it's criticism, compliments or ideas for chapters, I like to hear what people think of my writing! I also really appreciate the kudos from a whole lot of awesome people who seem to like my silly little AU.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's been enjoying this fic and leaving comments and kudos. I know I'm an ametuer and this is far from the best fic you've read, but I'm glad you're stopping by to read this.
> 
> love yall


	12. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nom

Jesse yawned and opened his eyes for the second time that morning. Grabbing Lena’s arm, he inspected her watch. She stayed blissfully sleeping as he checked the time. 10am. Right, okay. Genji muttered something and rolled over, still lost in slumber. Jesse had actually never seen them this peaceful. With Genji, that was understandable, he had only met the Shimada recently, but Lena? The brit never let herself slow down and take time to relax. A long time ago she had just decided she didn’t need to. Jesse knew she was mistaken and was pretty sure deep down she knew that too, she was just denying it. Lena acted like an idiot, but she was smart. She knew her behaviour wasn’t normal. Somehow she was always full of energy, even though she barely slept more than a few hours a night. Jesse sometimes envied her bubbly personality and her ability to stay positive, but he would never be envious of her insomnia. Careful not to disturb his friends, Jesse stood up slowly and stretched. There were still pillows everywhere and a glance outside said it was still rainy. So that was a no for shopping. Jesse looked around the room, noticing the addition of four stuffed animals from Sombra’s collection tucked around Genji and Lena. No Hanzo, though. Jesse stared at the couch where the Shimada had been, a few dozen thoughts crossing his mind. Then he heard talking in the kitchen. Right, yes, he should go talk to him. Them. People.

~

Jesse yawned again, sitting on the chair. He willed the coffee Sombra was making to hurry up and be made. Gabe and Hanzo stared at him, eyebrows raised. Of course, Jesse should have realized they would get along, they were both equally caring and judgemental at the same time.

“What?” He asked defensively, crossing his arms.

“Got a bit of fluff on, you, Jessito.” Sombra answered, smirking from behind the coffee machine. Groaning, Jesse swiped at his hair, which had scattered bits of wool and fluff strewn threw it.

“Why did you give ‘em the stuffed animals?” He snapped, glaring at his sister. She chuckled softly.

“Come on, they’ll love them when they wake up. Do you wanna take a shower while we sort out breakfast?” She asked. Jesse sighed.

“Yeah, fine.” He muttered, standing up. “If Genji wakes up you gotta teach him to make pancakes, Gabe!” He insisted, walking back towards the living room.

“And if he doesn’t?” Gabe asked.

“Doesn’t matter, I want pancakes. Please!” Jesse answered, walking past sleeping Genji and Lena to the hall. He had to go upstairs to get to the shower, which was actually good since that bathroom was closer to Jesse’s room.

~

Jesse glanced at the bottles of shampoo and conditioner, as well as the various body washes and hand soaps. When was the last time he had used any of this fancy stuff? Raspberry, vanilla and coconut smelling conditioner? Apple and cinnamon infused soap? Those honestly sounded like the names of scented candles. Jesse was about to just use the regular don’t-have-time-for-that-fancy-whatever-the-hell-it-is shampoo and conditioner, when a thought struck his mind. Should he try smelling nice if there were guests over? No, he shouldn’t. But he wanted to. Raspberry wasn’t that bad, was it? Would Hanzo like it? Would Hanzo even notice? Only one way to find out, really. Jesse liked raspberries and apples.

~

Jesse pulled the red t-shirt over his head, smoothing it out against his torso. He took a glance in the mirror. Not bad. Quickly combing his hair with his fingers, he smelled the air, taking in the delicious smell coming from downstairs. In a flash Jesse was out of his bedroom and down the stairs, barely stopping himself from falling over as he scrambled to get to the kitchen. Walking into the kitchenish-diningish-maybe-probably-had-a-proper-name-room, Jesse smiled. Sitting at the table were Lena, Hanzo and Sombra, while Genji and Gabe were in the kitchen.

“Jesse!” Genji exclaimed, smiling brightly. “Your father has taught me how to make pancakes! They are excellent!” He said, standing behind the stove. Jesse laughed.

“They sure are, Genji.” He sat at the table, opposite Hanzo. The older Shimada smiled warmly at him in greeting. Lena giggled.

“You smell nice, Jesse!” She stated, ruffling his hair. McCree snickered.

“Sure do, just part of my natural unbeatable attractiveness.” He answered, grabbing two pancakes from the plate in the center of the table. Sombra rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, of course.” She muttered. Jesse chuckled and poured boysenberries and cream over his pancakes. He glanced at Hanzo, who’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

“Hm?” Jesse mumbled, taking a bite of pancake. Hanzo shook his head.

“Nothing.” He replied, looking down at his plate. Lena tensed beside Jesse.

“You know the cute girl I met in the library? I think she goes like every three days. I’m wondering if I should ask her out.” She acted casual, but her words sounded forced, and the subject was a bit out of the blue. Jesse smiled at her, however.

“Go for it!” Lena hadn’t dated anyone in a while and she’d mentioned that girl before. Sombra nodded.

“Go on, Lena! You need a cute girl in your life!” She encouraged. Both the girls glanced at Hanzo, which confused Jesse, but he didn’t ask. As the conversation settled, Gabe spoke up.

“I met a woman at the library a few days ago. She was looking around and I asked her if she needed help, but she said she wasn’t wanting to read anything. Apparently the building was designed by some well known architect. She said she really likes architecture, she thinks a lot of the buildings around town are really well designed, and very structurally sound. Never knew.” He said, sitting in the empty chair beside Hanzo. The elder Shimada brother blinked.

“Really? Did she mention her name?” He asked. Gabe paused for a moment.

“Satya Vaswani. She goes to the same Uni as Fareeha.” Gabe took a pancake from the plate and smothered it in chocolate sauce and berries. Hanzo nodded slowly.

“I think I may have met her a while back.” He explained, glancing at Genji, who shrugged.

“Probably. Our father has many associates. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew some of the people at your friend’s university. It's interesting to think we might know a lot of the people who live here.” The younger Shimada said. Jesse smiled.

“Yep, it really is a small world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Satyaaaassss
> 
> some nice fluffy family time uwu
> 
> I wonder if Lena will ask that girl out? find out, in the next chapter oooofff
> 
> This fic isn't about Lena!
> 
> -not o'clock every noneday-


	13. Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rainy day still. What to do, what to do?

After breakfast Genji insisted everyone do indoor activities, and they eventually decided on board games. The five sat on the floor in the blanket circle, and Gabe spectated from the couch. After a lot of arguing, they settled on playing Monopoly. Then, there was another argument about teams. Gabe was dragged into the game to make it even and it ended up being Genji and Hanzo, Jesse and Gabe, and Sombra and Lena. Then the true battle began. Unsurprisingly, team Shimada took the most expensive properties first. Team Girlz opted to buy as many low priced properties as possible. Team Better-Than-Everyone-Else was left with the properties between each of those price ranges, which they weren’t complaining about. For a while Girlz was in the lead with most hotels and most money, but they fell into bankruptcy when they landed on the Shimada’s house packed properties two turns in a row. Girlz had to split up. Lena joined the Shimada’s team, the name being changed to R1ch K1ds, and Sombra went to Better-Than-Everyone-Else, renaming it Team Reyes. Team R1ch won, obviously, they were rich. But that wasn’t declared since the game was forgotten about when Sombra got bored and started playing video games. Jesse had seen her play this a bunch of times, Star-something? Or was this one COD? Or that other game… He didn’t remember, they were all just video games. The interesting thing was that she had made a lot of friends online. Jesse recognized the icons and the usernames, but he’d never been introduced to any of Sombra’s friends. Genji had been very interested with her game, and she’d eventually offered him a turn. He’d immediately started chatting away to whoever it was Sombra grouped up with, and the Shimada was surprisingly decent at the game, though he stopped paying attention to the gameplay after a few minutes.

“No, you shoot with the left button, not the right.” Sombra said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Genji wasn’t listening, even though Sombra’s headphones were put at the specific volume where you could hear the game properly but be aware of everything in the real world too. “Genji, why aren’t you listening to me?” She snapped, pulling off the headphones. Genji whined as she put them over her own ears, listening. Jesse watched as Sombra’s expression went from annoyed, to confused, to extremely mischievous.

“Sombra online. Are you distracting the Ninja?” She said to the mic. She spluttered. “Yeah, I figured. He wasn’t listening to me, so I had to know why he was so distracted. Yeah, yeah, I’ll give him back the headset now.” She took off the headphones and smirked at Genji, who was blushing. “You should add those three on your own account.” She suggested, sitting back down next to Jesse. The cowboy blinked as Genji place the headphones back over his head, going back into the game.

“What was that about?” He asked his sister, crossing his arms. Sombra shook her head.

“I’m seriously not even sure.”

~~

Genji eventually gave up the controller back to Sombra, who suggested Hanzo play a game. The older Shimada stared at her.

“I do not play Video Games.” He said, raising an eyebrow. Sombra nodded.

“I know. But you might like some of these. There’s lots of cool games, they’re not all just shooting games. I mean, a lot of them are, but those aren’t the only options. There’s The Last Guardian, though that takes ages. I might also have Portal 2, that’s got lots of puzzle solving. Or you could just play Sims.” She suggested. Jesse smiled.

“Yeah, play Sims, Han! You could make us!” He said, leaning back into the couch. Hanzo sighed, blinking at Jesse from his chair.

“Must I?” He asked, exasperated. Jesse just kept smiling.

“If ya want.” He was quite intrigued to see who Hanzo would make. Sims was an interesting game like that, you could make whoever you wanted and have a glimpse into a whole nother world. Jesse liked the concept a lot. Sombra took the disc, glancing at Hanzo.

“It’s worth a shot, right?” She asked. The Shimada nodded.

“I suppose, but I’m not making myself.” Jesse barely stopped the wince at seeing Hanzo grimace at mentioning himself. It made McCree feel bad that Hanzo didn’t seem to have much self-esteem. He was handsome, and charming, and sweet and smart and organized and funny and mysterious and polite and actually Jesse needed to stop staring at him now. Unfortunately, no matter how dreamy Hanzo looked at that moment, it’s always going to be weird to stare at people without a reason you’re not too afraid to talk about.

~

Jesse yawned, glancing around the room. Lena was still obsessed with creating herself in Sims, she had started doing so as soon as Hanzo had decided he was bored with the game. He sat next to Jesse now, arms folded as he watched Lena mess around with the colours of her sim’s top. Genji was lying on the floor, halfway between awake and sleep. All of them were tired, not really sure what to do with themselves for the rest of the evening.

“Lena, you’ve been at that for like 15 minutes.” Sombra whined.

“Just make it orange.” Genji suggested, rolling over on the floor. Lena sighed.

“Yeah alright. What if we watch a movie?” She asked, scrolling through the shades of orange.

Sombra sighed into the blanketed floor, muttering something incoherent. “Which one?” She asked, lifting her head. Genji spoke up.

“One with music!” He insisted, waving his arm at the ceiling.

“A musical or a movie?” Sombra asked skeptically. Genji shook his head. “A movie, just one with a few songs.”

Lena closed down the Sims. “Go crazy.” She said, passing Genji the remote. Jesse smiled at them. A movie would be fun, he hadn’t bothered watching anything in ages. He looked over as Hanzo sighed beside him. The Shimada frowned at the ground, gripping his right arm with his left. Jesse blinked.

“Everythin’ good?” Jesse asked softly, leaning closer to Hanzo. The Shimada flinched, as if he had forgotten Jesse was there. Jesse quickly leaned away.

“Sorry-” Hanzo and Jesse spoke at the same time, then cut themselves off, looking away. Jesse glanced back, meeting eyes with Hanzo.

“Y’alright?” He asked, frowning at the Shimada.

“Yes, I am just thinking. It is nothing to worry about.” Hanzo replied, returning his gaze to the floor. Jesse frowned, but said nothing. He blinked as Sombra spoke.

“Genji, that’s a kids’ movie!” She whined. The Shimada giggled.

“Yes, but it has songs in it!” He said, pressing play.

~~

Jesse really liked the movie, he found the plot quite interesting. The songs were also pretty good, he enjoyed them because most were sung to guitar, and Jesse loved guitars. He didn’t actually have one himself, it had been ages since he’d played any instrument, but he still remembered the music and all it meant to him. He felt like the movie really represented the power of songs, how much they can influence people. Sombra and Lena had chatted at the beginning, but after a while they really got into the story. Kid movies always had such nice endings, too.

Another nice thing about the movie was that it was based around celebrating the day of the dead. Jesse didn’t really celebrate it all that much up until recently, he hadn’t been raised to, though Gabe had always put up a photo or two each year. But since Sombra came along it had become a thing they enjoyed taking part in. Halfway through the movie, Jesse became aware of a weight against his shoulder. Confused, he’d turned to see that Hanzo had fallen asleep and he was leaning on Jesse. The cowboy smiled, laying his arm around the Shimada. He looked adorable. Plus, Hanzo seemed to deny himself things like sleeping in and being lazy, instead sticking to schedules and routines, so it was good for him to finally let down his guard and relax. Not to mention, it made Jesse extremely happy to be so close to Hanzo. After that the cowboy had stayed still for the rest of the movie, not wanting to wake the slumbering dragon brother…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still lots of fluff!
> 
> Lmao I think we need more angst after this chapter
> 
> I wonder who it was that made Genji blush? Quick note on that actually;
> 
> I know some people might not agree with the ship I'm going to give Genji for this fic. In fact, I still don't know if I want Lena to end up with Amélie or Emily. I was thinking both for that but the thing is it doesn't matter so much with Lena because both of those ships are popular. With Genji I can never seem to agree with myself who I want him to be with, but I've settled with a particular character for this particular fic. That said, the community supporting that ship is very small and it's kinda worrying to be honest. I hope I don't ruin this fic for some people by giving Genji an unpopular ship.
> 
> first world problems right here, i'll go take my shipping worries somewhere else


	14. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When everything's so nice and you get this warm fuzzy feeling and you know everything's going to be alright
> 
> and then you wake up and reality's there to hit you in the face

“Jesse, you have to get up.” Gabe called through the door. Jesse groaned, opening his eyes. He glanced around, greeted by the familiar orange walls of his room. That was strange, he thought for sure he had fallen asleep on the couch. He massaged his forehead for a few moments, then remembered. Lena woke him up early this morning and made him go to his room. Frowning, Jesse realized he hadn’t seen the Shimadas since he fell asleep during the second movie of the night. It was one of the many dumb drama comedy whatever movies Lena found hilarious, but no-one had really been watching it. Jesse had fuzzy memories of Genji and Lena falling asleep, as well as Sombra texting someone on her phone. What about Hanzo? Oh lord, Hanzo. Jesse narrowed his eyes and got out of bed, going to his dresser. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, debating, then settled with simply not looking at any texts he got from Genji or Hanzo, like, ever again. Was Hanzo angry at Jesse for not waking him up? Was he embarrassed? Jesse normally kept his heart on his sleeves, choosing to make the best out of bad situations. But with Hanzo… What if the Shimada was really upset with Jesse? What if he never talked to the cowboy again? What if-

“Jessito! You better hurry up, don’t wanna be late!” Sombra called from outside. Jesse sighed, opening one of his drawers and pulling out the black hoodie. Pulling it over his head, Jesse smiled at the chibi orange fox now plastered on his chest. He liked hoodies on days like that because they were basically designed so you can just hide away from everyone. Right then, blue or black jeans?

~~

Jesse opened the door to the pet store, immediately surrounded by the sound of animals and humans chattering away. Fareeha and Ana were laughing together, next to the budgie cages. At the sound of Jesse’s arrival, Ana looked up, smiling.

“Ah! If it isn’t Jesse! I assume you’re just here to pick up Soldier, then you’ll be back in half an hour to help Genji?” She asked, already walking towards where the cats and dogs were settled. Jesse nodded, glad he didn’t have to engage in any awkward small talk.

“I got him all packed up this morning, litter box, food, water bowls, scratching post, bed. Everything he’ll be needing!” Ana said brightly. Jesse frowned at her, noticing how tense she was as she took each step towards Soldier.

“Are ya alright, Ana?” He asked gently. The elder woman stopped, pausing for a moment. She blinked at Soldier for a moment, smile lost, before she turned to sigh at Jesse. He felt bad just seeing her look so defeated, all the fight taken out of her.

“Please, tell Gabriel I’m sorry.” She said simply, not meeting eye contact as she picked up the bags and cat carrier. Jesse nodded, deciding to leave it at that.

“Be back soon. Text me when the Shimadas get here.” He said as he opened the door. Then he was back in the car with Gabe, Soldier’s carrier on his lap.

“Hey, kitty.” Gabe said gently, glancing into the cage. Soldier was hidden in shadow, but Gabe still smiled at him gently. Jesse placed the carrier on the floor of the car as the engine started up.

“Ana said to tell ya she’s sorry.” He murmured, glancing out the window. Gabe sighed, but was otherwise silent.

~~

Jesse got back in the car, closing the door behind him. Right, Soldier was set up in Gabe’s room, and he’d later be moved to the laundry for cat door access, now to get back to Ana’s shop. Jesse pulled out his phone, eyes locking onto the text Fareeha had sent him. He tried not to think about the other notifications he had skipped, he wasn’t excited to see the Shimada brothers’ texts. Jesse blinked as Gabe got into the driver’s seat beside him.

“Got a text from ‘Reeha sayin’ Hanzo an’ Genji are there.” He said, putting his phone away as he clicked his seatbelt into place. Gabe nodded.

“Have you talked to either of them yet today?” He asked, starting the car. Jesse frowned.

“Naw. I… I don’t really wanna.” He admitted, eyes down. His pa made a hum, thinking about it for a moment.

“You think they’re mad at you for something?” Gabe asked. Jesse mumbled something incoherent, shrinking away so the collar of his hoodie covered his mouth. Gabe sighed. “They’re your friends, Jesse. The worst that’ll happen is they’ll pretend whatever it was didn’t happen.” He decided, placing a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. The worst? No, the worst was Hanzo and Genji never talking to Jesse again. That was definitely a possibility.

“An’ the best?” Jesse asked quietly, not looking up. Gabe chuckled.

“Life is what you make it, kid.”

~

As the bell at the door rang, Jesse was hit by a presence tackling his front.

“Ah! Cowboy! You didn’t reply to my texts! I thought you were ignoring me!” Genji exclaimed, arms wrapping around Jesse. McCree smiled.

“Aww, Genji, I wouldn’t do that to ya darlin’! I’ve just been busy helping pa out with Soldier.” He lied, grinning at the Shimada. Genji pulled back, beaming.

“Does your father like the cat? Hanzo did say they would get along. I’m assuming he was right as always?” He asked, turning to look back at his brother. Jesse and Hanzo’s eyes met and they both tensed for a moment, lost for words. Jesse’s thoughts were flooded with swears as he made himself know just how much his conscience hated him. After an awkward pause, Jesse realized he was meant to speak.

“Yeah, uh, Gabe seems to have made friends.” He said blankly, looking back at Genji. There was another silence before Ana cleared her throat.

“Alright, you can take the bird home and get it set up. Do you know what to do or should Jesse go with you?” She asked.

“I do know how to set it up, but Jesse could surely come with us anyway?” Genji smiled charmingly at the woman. Ana chuckled softly.

“He has forty five minutes to go to your house, set up the cage, I’m assuming you want to give him the grand tour, then he has to be back here by 12 O’clock.” She folded her arms, a challenging gleam in her eyes. “Can you handle that time limit?” She asked slyly. Genji was about to reply, when Hanzo stepped forward.

“We are Shimadas. We can handle anything.” He said firmly, though he had a good natured tone to his words. Ana shrugged.

“Hey, you can keep Jesse as long as you like. It just means he has to come in early on Sunday.” She replied, smiling.

~~

Genji blinked into the cage, in awe of the small bird perched on a stick. It fluffed its feathers at him, tucking its beak into its fluffy neck.

“Soba is very cute.” The Shimada observed, not taking his eyes off of the bird. Jesse nodded.

“Yep, most birds are.” He answered, folding his arms. Hanzo was getting something from the kitchen while Jesse helped the younger Shimada brother sort out his new pet. The cowboy glanced at the desk in the corner of Genji’s room, which was covered in random pieces of paper and books written in Japanese.

“What are these?” The American asked, picking up a small notebook. He glanced at Genji, who nodded, a gesture implying he could open it.

“They are my drawings and recipes, as well as random thoughts. I am not particularly skilled at art, but I enjoy what you call doodling.” He explained, turning back to his bird. Jesse flipped through the pages. Chibi animals waved at him, and sketches of flowers were strewn across the corners of every other page. The drawings weren’t bad, they were actually quite cute.

“What’s all this text?” Jesse asked, getting to a page full of Japanese characters. Genji glanced back.

“Is it in green or blue?” He kept his face expressionless, standing up straight.

“Green.” Jesse murmured, brushing his fingers against the glittery characters.

“Those are my wishes and dreams. Perhaps one day you will be able to read them.” Genji explained, a gentle smile on his face. Jesse flipped through a few more pages.

“What’s the blue?” He stared at a small drawing of a sky blue chibi dragon in the corner of the page. It had white and gold accents, as well as sly, cartoonish, yet familiar brown eyes.

“That says all I wish and dream for Hanzo. If he does not allow himself to imagine his own future, I have decided I must do it for him.” Genji said quietly. There was a pause as Jesse inspected the characters carefully, wondering what secrets were hidden in the notes. “Speaking of my brother, perhaps you should go find him.” Genji suggested.

“Yeah, alright.” Jesse murmured, putting down the notebook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a lot of responsibility you've given yourself, Genji.
> 
> I wonder what our little Shimada wants for his older brother? If only Jesse could read Japanese...
> 
> next chapter is kinda angsty, just gonna put that out there. but there's also genji fluff to even it out, so we gucci


	15. Different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter; mchanzo fluff, mild angst and of course a pet name or two.

Jesse stood at the doorway for a moment, watching as Hanzo stared at the ingredients of the packet of biscuits he was holding. The Shimada looked a million worlds away.

“Somethin’ up, Buttercup?” Jesse drawled, making his presence apparent. Hanzo blinked, eyes focusing.

“I would prefer it if we had home made food to give you, I must apologize.” He murmured, turning over the biscuits to sigh at the happy bear on the front.

“Hanzo, not everythin’ has ta have your heart an’ soul poured into it.” Jesse placed a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder. Seeing Hanzo frowning was saddening for Jesse, but he also found it kind of cute. The Shimada looked like a puppy who needed a hug. Jesse loved puppies and hugs. Then again, he wasn’t exactly sure Hanzo liked getting hugs or being compared to a puppy, so he would keep that thought to himself.

“Very well. But I would simply like to make you feel welcome.” Hanzo said, putting down the packet.

“I feel plenty welcome by jus’ bein’ here at all. Y’all have a fancy house.” Jesse remarked, turning to blink at the dining room. It was all neat and laid out with precision, everything clean and prepared. Hanzo followed Jesse’s gaze.

“I suppose it is a big house. But no matter the look, it does not quite feel like home.” He murmured. Jesse frowned.

“Why’s that?” He asked quietly. Shaking his head, Hanzo smiled.

“It is a good house. Would you like to see my room before we return to Ana’s shop?” The Shimada had dodged Jesse’s question. It irritated the cowboy that Hanzo didn’t want to tell him his thoughts, but he didn’t let it show.

“Sure.” McCree answered, keeping his tone light. Abandoning the packet of biscuits, Hanzo lead Jesse back upstairs.

~

Jesse wasn’t sure what he had expected, but this looked about right. A recently made bed, a desk in the corner, books on the shelves. Hanzo’s room was neat and tidy, which wasn’t surprising in the slightest. The wallpaper was blue with a familiar swirl pattern, the colour slightly darker than the guest room of the house. It was laid out just like the room Jesse had slept in when he first came to the Shimada home. A generic, simple, normal bedroom. Hanzo stood patiently, clearly just waiting for Jesse to get bored. Jesse glanced at the desk, which like Genji’s had a few scattered pieces of paper and some books. Something that caught Jesse’s eye, though, was a small glass statue. There was a swan gleaming on the windowsill above Hanzo’s desk. The swan was translucent, tinged white.

“What’s this?” Jesse asked, leaning down to observe it. He glanced back at Hanzo, blinking at the Shimada’s exasperated expression. Hanzo sighed as he looked at the swan in Jesse’s hands. “Alright, nevermind.” Jesse said, standing up straight.

“Sorry, I did not mean-” Hanzo paused, unable to find the words to explain whatever he had meant. Jesse shrugged.

“Naw, I’m being stupid. A glass statue, yeah? A swan. I guess I just thought it had meanin’ or somethin’. Quite pretty.” He smiled gently at Hanzo, trying not to retaliate. The statue clearly did have meaning, you don’t just own a glass swan. But if Hanzo thought Jesse was stupid, whatever.

“It was from a friend who I fell out with.” Hanzo said quietly. Jesse tilted his head.

“So why keep the statue?” He asked.

“Because I was in the wrong. I lost a lot when I moved to America, but she helped me to understand this country and its people when I first got here. And for once, I didn’t have a friend because of family or wealth. I really enjoyed her company, and we got along well…” Hanzo paused, not meeting Jesse’s gaze. “Yet, when reminded of my home, I got so caught up in feeling sorry for myself that I lashed out at her every so often. At first she understood and did not make me apologize. However, after a while, I began to subconsciously think I could simply use her as a way to get rid of my anger. It was terrible of me to do that. Eventually she was no longer able to stand my behaviour. She stopped talking to me, and I do not blame her.” What? Who was that girl? Why would Hanzo do that to her? Was he just blaming himself for something that wasn’t his fault, or did he really treat her badly? Jesse’s solemn expression rested on the statue for a moment.

“It’s a nice swan.” He murmured quietly, a bit lost for words as he put it back down.

~~

Blushing, Genji shook his head as he closed the car door. “I didn’t say that, I just think he’s cute!” He explained, trying and failing to defend himself.

“He’s cute, huh?” Jesse asked, smirking. Hanzo was sitting in the passenger’s seat, shaking his head. Genji said something to his brother in Japanese, probably whining about being teased. Jesse made this assumption based on the fact Hanzo just chuckled softly and Genji flushed even redder.

“Genji, you cannot seriously tell me you think that boy is cute, but you do not have a crush on him. You have fallen for every ‘cute’ boy you’ve ever met.” Hanzo said, folding his arms. Genji glared at his brother.

“That’s not true! Jesse is cute and I don’t have a crush on him!” He said, bristling. This was utterly hilarious. Placing his hand on his chest, Jesse gasped dramatically.

“Aww, Genji, that’s both the sweetest and most disappointin’ thing I’ve ever been told.” Jesse drawled, clicking his seat belt into place.

“Sorry to break it to you, cowboy, but I have my heart set on someone else.” Genji said casually.

“So ya do have a crush on that boy!” McCree exclaimed. Groaning, Genji put his face in his hands. Hanzo smirked at Jesse, and for a few moments they smiled at one another, struggling not to laugh. Jesse loved Hanzo’s eyes. They looked cold most of the time but there was an undertone of gentleness the cowboy adored. Breaking the gaze, Jesse hid his blush as he looked out the window at the passing trees. It was mid summer at the moment, today was bright and sunny, and definitely a relief from the brief rain the previous few days had brought.

Jesse didn’t come to this part of town often, so the neighbourhoods and the people were unfamiliar to him. At first glance, things looked almost exactly the same as Jesse’s neighbourhood. But when you actually searched for the differences, they became quite apparent. Here there weren’t kids playing in the gardens, or old people sitting on their porch. Of course, maybe the kids were at school and the old people were inside, but it still looked all pristine and neat, as if this part of town was in its own little bubble of lawyers, rich people and successful young couples. It probably was, honestly. As far as Jesse knew, Genji and Hanzo were the only people under 21 living in these parts, and neither of them fit into the three categories. Well, okay, no, they were rich. But they definitely weren’t lawyers and they didn’t live with some extremely talented highschool sweetheart or whatever. Right?

Oh, God, wait. Was Hanzo dating anyone? He hadn’t mentioned a person, but, what if he was actually already happy with someone and Jesse was just a kind-of-but-not-really friend who Hanzo hung out with because Gabe was right and Hanzo only wanted to hurt Jesse for some unexplained reason and he’d never love Jesse because he already loved someone else and if Jesse ever told him how he felt Hanzo would stop talking to him completely and Genji would abandon Jesse too and Gabe would just be disappointed that Jesse had ever opened his stupid mouth and Sombra and all of Jesse’s friends would be really upset because he assumed he could just tell Hanzo he had a crush on him and everything would be ruined forever??? Hanzo could definitely hurt Jesse, he could break his heart, destroy all of his confidence, he could ruin Jesse’s life with just the word ‘no’, even when fully realizing what it would do to him. McCree should never have put this power into Hanzo’s hands.

And yet, when Jesse turned back to see the Shimada tapping away at his phone, hair tied back and in jeans and a t-shirt Genji had somehow convinced him to wear, Jesse didn’t see any trace of that kind of person in Hanzo. He didn’t hurt people just because he wanted to; he didn’t want to hurt people at all. Jesse knew Hanzo liked him, at least as a friend. And for now, Jesse wouldn’t mind it if Hanzo was dating someone. Well… He wouldn’t tell Hanzo he minded. But even if there was a person, Hanzo wouldn’t hurt Jesse. At least that was something written in stone…

“Otōto. Genji. Brother. Please, tell me again how you think that boy is ‘really super duper cute and I really like him and he always picks healer because he’s so kind and considerate and he’s adorable’, but you do not have a crush on him?” Yes, written in stone, unlike Genji’s supposedly non existent feelings for one of Sombra’s friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OWO GENJI HAS A CRUSH
> 
> ninja child in love uwu
> 
> Otōto = brother, specifically younger brother (that's what google says at least)
> 
> at the time of posting this I'm actually almost done writing the whole fic, which surprises me. after this fic is done i might have a break for a couple of weeks, but after that i'm gonna be back with a new fic, which is the prequel to this fic in terms of story, but the sequel in terms of what order you're supposed to read them. it sounds confusing but dont even worry about it, you'll get it later
> 
> "lu, if there were two gay blokes on the moon and one killed the other with a fuckin rock would that be fucked up or what?"
> 
> "why are they gay?"
> 
> "everyone's fuckin gay."
> 
> "can't argue with that"


	16. Settled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time has passed. Jesse's glad to have such good friends.
> 
> However, someone's in need of help.

Jesse blinked at the text from Hanzo. A text from the Shimada at 7am wasn’t uncommon now, weeks of spending time together definitely changed things. Jesse quite enjoyed how much Hanzo had seemed to open up and actually feel comfortable talking to Jesse. Well, it wasn’t really that he had been uncomfortable before, more just uninterested. At least, that’s how it felt to Jesse. Now they had spent so much time with eachother it felt like Jesse had known Hanzo for years. He was enthusiastic to talk to Jesse, and the Cowboy had heard plenty of funny stories and interesting facts, in the past few weeks they had gradually got to the point where Jesse would sometimes text Hanzo to talk about absolutely nothing important and the Shimada would actually bother replying.

Genji and Hanzo had really made a good impression on Jesse’s previously pretty okay life. They had started hanging out with Jesse and his other friends almost everyday. The arrangement fit really well into Jesse’s schedule. Firstly, they helped him and Ana at the pet shop a lot, cutting the workload in half. Gabe had also really enjoyed having Genji around, they had bonded over their love of baking and overtime Gabe started making his favourite dishes again. Jesse was really glad his pa was so happy lately, he had noticed that Soldier the cat was a big part of Gabe’s new found enthusiasm. Sombra had introduced Hanzo and Genji to a bunch of her video games, Lena had taught them five different ways to avoid falling over when carrying large boxes down stairs, and Fareeha helped Hanzo explain to Genji the difference between teal and cyan.

Blinking over the text carefully, Jesse was confused. Hanzo had invited him to visit the park at 10am on Saturday. The park was just a giant field with some nice looking trees and it was normally filled with people walking their dogs. There was a pond though, and a few cafés on that street. It might be fun to visit there. Hanzo hadn’t mentioned anything about Genji, but he was probably going to be there too. Sending a reply, Jesse agreed to meet the Shimada at the park in two days’ time. For now, he had to go help Lena with a ‘super mega really bad absolutely awful issue - bring cake!’

~~

Nodding slowly, Sombra took another bite of her piece of cake. Jesse was glad Gabe had agreed to let them take a whole cake to Lena’s house, the four of them - Lena, Jesse, Sombra and Fareeha - were always ravenous when they were trying to figure something out. They had discovered that fact while playing cluedo, something they did once and never again. Actually, Jesse wouldn’t mind playing it again some time, it might be even better with the Shimadas to spice things up. Gabe owned a really modern set and it had actual pictures of people with stylish clothes and the best part was that Mrs White was a woman of colour. Jesse always played as Scarlett just because he liked the colour red.

“Yeah, nah, Chica. Having a crush on two girls at once makes things seriously complicated.” Sombra mumbled, typing on her laptop. Lena had been explaining things for the past twenty-five minutes.

“Oh really, Sombra? I hadn’t figured that out yet, luv. Thanks for clearing it up.” Lena said sarcastically, crossing her arms. Sombra just stared at her for a moment, then looked back at her computer. Jesse frowned.

“Hey, come on, Lena. We’re here to help you.” He said, eyes flicking to Sombra as he tried to read his sister’s expression. She was so good at hiding her feelings, Jesse really needed to ask her how she kept such a blank face.

“Well you’re doing a terrible bloody job, aren’t you! I’ve told you everything, so what should I do about it?!” Lena asked, glaring at them. Fareeha twitched beside Jesse while he just stared at Lena in surprise.

“Lena.” Fareeha’s voice was stern. “You barely know those girls. I didn’t realize a crush or two meant you could treat us like we’re the bad guys. I only want the best for you, but if you’re going to get angry at Jesse and Sombra for no reason, I don’t want to be here.” Standing up, Fareeha walked to the door.

“Wait, no- don’t go, ‘Reeha! I’m sorry, I’ve just been really stressed recently and I’m not sure what to do about this!” Lena’s pleas didn’t stop Fareeha, to Jesse’s surprise. “Please don’t leave, I need your help!” The brit cried. Suddenly, Sombra stood up as well.

“Adios, puta.” She muttered, carrying her laptop out of the room. Jesse sat for a while, not sure what to do. Should he leave to? He couldn’t say he particularly enjoyed Lena snapping at him, and it was tempting to just walk away so she’d feel bad. After a minute or two of quiet while Jesse debated, Lena sniffed quietly, and the Cowboy realized she had started crying.

“Oh god. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. She’s right. You can leave too, Jesse, I know I don’t deserve you here.” Lena mumbled, burying her face in her hands. McCree frowned at her. No matter how badly she treated him, he’d never be able to stand seeing her so upset.

“Naw, I can’t leave ya here. You still need help with your problem. I understand why they left though, that was awful rude of ya.” He said, keeping his voice non judgemental. Lena sobbed quietly for a few moments more, so Jesse grabbed her arm, pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in his hoodie, looking less like the energetic independant teen he was used to, and more like a lost little kid.

Jesse sighed. “I think you should ask her out. The girl, Emily. From what you’re telling me she was really nice to you, so she’d be the most likely to say yes. You do know you could be in a relationship with both of ‘em, don’t you?” Jesse murmured, patting Lena’s back.

“What? You mean, like, a poly relationship? I don’t even know if either of them are gay, let alone open to something like that.” Said Lena, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Jesse sighed.

“Well, you’ll never know until you ask. Why don’t you start with just asking out Emily, then see how it goes with the other one. What did you say her name was?” He asked, yawning as Lena picked up the box of cake and picked at the treat.

“Amélie.” Lena replied, nibbling at the cake. Jesse burst out laughing.

“Seriously, Lena?! An Emily and an Amélie?!” He asked, only more amused as Lena went red.

“Oh come on, there’s a difference! Amélie’s french, Emily’s british! Amélie’s got dark hair and brown eyes, Emily’s got red hair and like, kind of orange eyes. Their only similarity is their names.” Lena protested, putting down the box of cake. Jesse chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, alright. Ask Emily out when you next see her, and tell me how it went.” Said Jesse, smiling. He paused. “For now, though, I think you’ve gotta go apologize to Sombra and ‘Reeha.” He murmured, wondering if the two other girls were actually still here. Fareeha was really angry with Lena this time, and Sombra had seemed calm, but before she left Jesse had seen the fury in her eyes as she insulted Lena. 

“Right. I’ll see you downstairs in a bit, Jesse. I hope they haven’t left…” Lena frowned as she opened her drawer, looking for something. Jesse nodded and walked out the door, going downstairs to look for Fareeha and Sombra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh dear
> 
> Chica - Girl  
> Adios - Bye  
> Puta - Bitch


	17. Important

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse, Sombra, and Fareeha are waiting. Lena said she would come downstairs, but Jesse just hopes Sombra and Fareeha don't leave before she gets the chance to apologize.

Jesse sat silently next to Sombra, who was typing quickly on her laptop. She was glaring at her screen, pausing between each rapid string of typing. She was talking to someone, Jesse had gathered. And she wasn’t happy. Fareeha sat on the couch opposite them, on her phone. She was smiling to herself, surprisingly. Jesse was pretty sure she was also talking to someone, but he didn’t know who. The three of them were just waiting for Lena, who said she’d be down soon. At least, Jesse was waiting. Fareeha and Sombra might not want to see her, and could just waiting to be picked up to go home. Lena was getting something from her drawer, though, which Jesse was curious about.

As if on cue, Lena hurried down the stairs and into the living room where the other three sat. Her eyes were still slightly red and she looked a bit sad, but she was holding three small boxes in her hands. Sombra stiffened beside Jesse and Fareeha glared at her phone as the two noticed the brit. McCree hoped they wouldn’t refuse to talk to her.

“H-Heya. I’m really sorry for the way I talked to you. I was frustrated about my crushes and I let myself take my anger out on you.” Lena started, not meeting eye contact with any of them as they blinked at her. “That was awful of me, because you guys are my friends, and I need to treat you properly. I know what to do now, so I won’t complain to you again. If you guys just don’t want to talk to me, I understand.” She murmured, frowning. She paused for a moment, then brightened slightly.

“But I have something for you three. They were going to be gifts for Christmas and Birthdays and stuff, I got them when I went back home a few months ago. But I want to give them to you now, because I feel really bad about snapping at you.” She explained, placing down the white boxes in front of who they were for. They had swirly patterns on the sides and top, and each was tied with a ribbon. Blue and gold for Fareeha, red and orange for Jesse, and purple and pink for Sombra. Everyone stayed still for a moment, staring at the boxes. Jesse’s eyes flickered between Sombra and Fareeha, who were glancing at each other. Reaching out for his box, McCree picked up the small cube, slowly untying the ribbon. Opening it carefully, he pulled away the bubblewrap, cautious. Jesse’s breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the gift Lena had given him. A small, mainly fiery orange with dashes of warm yellow and blazing red, glass bird. It looked like a phoenix, with its majestic flaming wings stretched out as it looked ahead. It was beautiful.

“This is incredible, Lena. Did you get this custom made?” He asked quietly, twirling the figure in his fingers. She nodded, blinking hopefully.

“Yeah, I did. I got each of them customized for you guys.” She explained.

Sombra reached out, picking up her own purple glittery box. She paused for a moment, studying it, before she carefully untied the pink ribbon. Taking off the bubblewrap, she pulled out a small black figure, which Jesse quickly recognized as a raven. It was very similar to Reaper, its wings were tucked at its sides and the playful tilt of its head was familiar. Jesse was quite impressed with the gifts so far, not only were they beautiful, but they definitely held meaning. The fact that his phoenix was made for him, not anyone else, was kind of touching. Lena had been rude, yes, but she had gone to a lot of effort to get these done, even before her friends were mad at her, and the birds were very beautiful.

“Gracias.” Sombra said quietly, clearly feeling conflicted. Sombra hated whenever someone was angry at her, especially if she thought they had no reason to be. Jesse hated that she was so good at arguing, actually. Sombra always knew when she was right or wrong, but even if she was in the wrong she’d always seem to twist everything around so you’d feel bad when it wasn’t your fault. She was terribly manipulative sometimes and Jesse needed to stop giving her free passes. But he knew she couldn’t help it, she had always acted that way, often without even meaning to. She had a good heart, but she sometimes just didn’t understand when to face her consequences. Gabe was very good at dealing with Sombra. He didn’t fall for it when she played the victim card -well, most of the time- and he made sure she didn’t get off scot free when she did something wrong. Jesse’s thoughts were interrupted when Fareeha spoke.

“This is beautiful. Thank you, Lena. I know you’re stressed, I shouldn’t have walked out.” She said. Jesse realized that she was now holding her own small glass bird in her hands, a peacock with its tail feathers fanned out. The eye shaped patterns on the tips of every feather were elegantly etched with shiny gold. Fareeha stared at it for awhile, her eyes expressing a mixture of emotions. Mostly sadness, surprisingly.

“Is somethin’ wrong, ‘Reeha?” Jesse asked, confused. She stayed silent for another moment, then sighed.

“Next semester I’m leaving.” She whispered. Jesse almost dropped his phoenix as his breath caught in his throat. Lena was just as shocked as he were, panic rising in her voice.

“What do you mean, luv?! Where are you going?” She asked. Sombra was silent, staring at Fareeha while the Amari explained.

“You guys know how difficult last Semester was with Uni being so far from here. I talked about it with mum and we agreed I’ll be staying in a dorm on the campus.” Fareeha explained. There was silence for a moment, before Sombra spoke.

“We only have two weeks before you go to live in a completely different city? What about Ana’s shop? Doesn’t she need your help?” She asked, skeptical. Jesse was speechless beside her, still trying to comprehend it as he put the Phoenix back in the box.

“No, not with Jesse working there now. She’ll pay you extra, Jesse, but she wants me to go get my education properly, without the hassle of an hour drive just to get there for a lecture or two. It’d be easier if they hurried up and made everything digital, but until then, I have to be there in person. It’s not forever, guys, I’ll still come back for holidays and maybe a few weekends, but this is what’s going to be best.” Fareeha frowned, clutching the bird in her hand. When she had nothing left to say, Jesse’s voice suddenly returned to him, and he found himself talking before he had a chance to even think about how to respond.

“What the hell? You’re just going to leave us? No more baking, no more buying dorky pencils, no more ice-cream, no more frisbee in the park? Why didn’t you ask for our opinion first, ‘Reeha?” Jesse felt rage bubbling inside him. “Don’t you care about us?” He asked, glaring at Fareeha. Her eyes widened, and he quickly realized what he had said. Jesse’s anger was replaced by regret, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but he was cut off.

“Do you really think you don’t matter to me? I’m sorry we won’t be able to act like children anymore Jesse, but I’m not a kid now. I- I need to go to get my education so I can have a good career! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the fact I worked in a pet shop my whole life to be the only god damn legacy I have after I die!” Fareeha snapped, eyes blazing. There was silence for mere heartbeats, but it seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Wow. Did Fareeha think that was all Jesse would do for his whole life? Was he such a failure in her eyes that she believed he would never actually do anything? Just because Jesse wasn’t rushing to abandon his friends and family so he could say he was qualified for something didn’t mean he wasn’t ever going to make himself a proper life. He was struggling to think of a reply, when Sombra grabbed his arm.

“Thank you for the gifts Lena. Good luck with your crushes. Come on Jessito.” She said quickly, picking up the boxes and heading for the hallway. Fareeha reached out but Sombra dodged, not stopping.

“No, don’t go.” The Amari said, grabbing Jesse’s hand as Sombra tried to pull him past her. Jesse stopped, not moving even though Sombra tugged at his arm. He sighed, deciding on what to say for a few moments. Fareeha was clearly trying to conjure up something, probably an apology, but Jesse didn’t really want to listen.

“It’s okay, ‘Reeha. I’m sorry. I know you do care about us, but this important to you. I’ll see you later.” He said, not waiting for a reply as he pulled his hand back and Sombra lead him away. As the front door closed behind them, Jesse was surprised to see Gabe getting out of their car. He stood still for a moment, staring at his kids.

“What did Lena say to you?” He asked, the confusion in his voice edged with anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. Oh dear.
> 
> Gracias - Thank you


	18. Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back home, Jesse has time to think. And eat food. Food's important.

Once they were home, Jesse went upstairs and collapsed on his bed. Gabe had made him explain what had happened while they were in the car, and noe McCree felt exhausted. It seemed like everything was collapsing. First there were problems with Lena, though those had been pretty much been fixed. But Fareeha… Jesse could barely fathom how upset he was, which definitely said something. How could she say those things? Was Jesse really childish? Did she think he was immature? He was, wasn’t he? God, Jesse was an idiot sometimes. Assuming Fareeha didn’t care just because she valued her future. He couldn’t do anything about it now, he had already said it. Jesse twitched as his phone made a quiet noise. He had put it on vibrate earlier, so he could focus on Lena’s problem. It could’ve been buzzing like crazy for ages, he’d forgotten it for hours. Grabbing it off the side table, Jesse glanced at the notifications. Eight messages from Lena. Five from Fareeha. Two from Genji, and one from Hanzo.

Lena wanted to know if he was okay. Sending a message, Jesse explained he was fine, but he didn’t feel like talking to Fareeha right now. Lena would tell her, of course she would, so Jesse wasn’t going to bother reading the messages ‘Reeha had sent him. Genji had sent two doodles of cats, which were cute. Jesse asked if Genji would be asking out the boy he liked yet, since it was well overdue with how much the Shimada talked about him.

Hanzo’s message was simply a picture of a poster, bright colours surrounding bold letters. A striking advertisement for a fair that would be on that Sunday. 5pm - 9pm. That was pretty late, but it was all supposed to happen in darkness - Jesse assumed that was so the horrendously loud noises and bright lights would be just that little bit more noticeable - and that meant there would be a lot less little kids. ‘The most colourful, most exciting, most tremendous fair you’ll ever see! Win prizes, go on rides, get food, celebrate with friends and family!’ it read. Jesse already knew he’d be going at just one glance, but he told Hanzo to sell the idea to him. Something like a fair would ease the stress Jesse had right now. Glancing in the mirror, the cowboy glared at his messy hair, which he had apparently been running his fingers through without realizing. Jesse hated fighting with any of his friends, but with ‘Reeha it always sucked the most. Putting down his phone, Jesse went to take a shower.

~~

Going downstairs, Jesse smelled the air excitedly. He quickly patted at his hair with the towel, settling with leaving it slightly damp as he chucked the towel into the laundry basket that was abandoned at the bottom of the stairs. Hurrying to the kitchen, Jesse smiled. Pizza. Gabe always served the best pizza, he made the dough himself and he had a few herb plants on the windowsill. Jesse was sure his pa could make a meal out of anything if he gave it some thought.

“Oh yeah, sure, ignore me. You wouldn’t be the first.” Gabe said sarcastically, though he didn’t really sound angry. Jesse stopped, confused, then realized his pa was only talking to Soldier.

“Evenin’, pa. Kitty giving you trouble?” Jesse asked, smiling as his pa watched the cat. Gabe looked up, grinning.

“Someone’s just upset because I served dinner for you and Sombra before him.” Gabe explained, scratching the chin of the white cat. Soldier purred quietly, flicking his ears. Jesse was glad the cat had been a success, and he could tell Ana was too when he told her about it a few days after they first got Soldier. Actually, Ana had been very excited to know Jesse’s pa liked Soldier. She had said something about finally being able to talk about Jack with Gabe. Though he wanted to, Jesse hadn’t asked about it. Gabe hadn’t even mentioned this Jack guy, so Jesse was leaving the subject alone.

“Doesn’t look too upset to me.” Jesse remarked, watching the cat push its head against Gabe’s hand. They had set up a small cat tree in the kitchen so Soldier could watch Gabe cooking. Patting Soldier, Jesse wondered if he should get a pet for himself. A timer went off, making Jesse jump. Gabe didn’t bat an eye, and simply went over to the source of the delicious pizza smell, putting on oven mitts. Getting out the pizzas, he put them on top of the stove so they could cool. Jesse eyed the pepperoni one hungrily, tapping the counter with his fingers.

“Go get Sombra and wash your hands, then you can sit down.” Gabe said, glancing at Jesse.

“I literally just had a shower, pa.” Jesse said, raising his eyebrows. Gabe returned the gesture, eyes flicking to Soldier. Sighing, Jesse smiled and turned away.

“Damn cat stopping me from getting my pizza.” Jesse grumbled good naturedly. He went through the living room and up the stairs, going to find his sister. Stopping outside of her room, he knocked on the door.

“Dinner! It’s pizza!” Jesse called, placing his hands on his hips. There was a pause for a moment, before Sombra responded.

“I’ll be down in a minute, just gotta finish this game!” She replied. Jesse went to the bathroom and washed his hands, taking a few seconds to appreciate the scent of vanilla and honey left behind. Hurrying back downstairs, he sat at the table eagerly. Gabe had set up the pizzas, a pepperoni one and a margherita. Sombra didn’t really like a lot of toppings when it came to pizza. Tacos, on the other hand, were always filled to the brim. Jesse wasn’t very picky about his food, as long as it tasted good.

“Hanzo said there’s a fair on this Sunday. Five to nine, so it’d be after work. Can I go?” Jesse asked his pa, reaching out for a slice of pizza.

“Are you two dating yet?” Gabe mumbled, taking another bite of his own slice of pepperoni. Jesse blushed at the question, immediately losing his relaxed demeanor.

“What? I- I don’t really… He hasn’t- I’m not-” Jesse stuttered, in a freeze frame as he still leaned over his plate with a pizza slice in his hand. Gabe chuckled.

“I’m honestly just tired of seeing how happy you are when you talk about him, but you’ve always got that sadness in your eyes. He likes you, Jesse. Trust me on this.” Gabe said, leaning back in his chair. Jesse wasn’t convinced.

“You can’t make me ask Hanzo out.” He said, putting his pizza slice down and crossing his arms. Gabe paused for a moment, thinking. He had a devilish gleam in his eyes as he spoke.

“Don’t be so sure, Mijo. For instance, perhaps you’d do it for a cake.” He suggested. Jesse shook his head.

“No way. If I’m going to do something that could ruin my life, you have to do something that could ruin your life.” Jesse said. He stared at Gabe for a moment, studying his pa, who was just smiling nonchalantly. Then Jesse got it.

“If I ask Hanzo out on Sunday, you have to talk to that Jack guy.” Jesse said. Gabe stopped smiling, eyes widening. Jesse paused, uncertain if he had crossed a line. Sighing, Gabe nodded.

“Okay. It’s been long enough.” He said. Jesse disguised his surprise, silent as Gabe yawned. “You ask out Hanzo, I talk to Jack. You can’t chicken out of this, Mijo.” Well, this just got serious. Jesse was actually relieved, and quite intrigued. Would he be able to meet Jack? He felt as if he had once before, but probably not. A few seconds later, there was the familiar patter of a certain someone sprinting through the living room, and Sombra was suddenly sitting beside Jesse, reaching out for pizza.

“I’m going out Sunday night with some friends.” She mumbled through her mouthful of pizza. Gabe nodded.

“I’ll drop the both of you off.” He told them. Jesse relaxed, completely forgetting about his troubles with Fareeha so he could enjoy his pizza with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff 'n' stuff
> 
> A fair OWO  
> A promise OWO
> 
> hey what if I made a discord server? I have like a billion more fanfics to write about this au among other aus that I've got swarming around in my otherwise empty brain so it'd be cool if I could ask for people's opinions without having to wait a week in between. if anyone would actually be interested in something like that then I'd appreciate it if you could tell me in the comments
> 
> or I'll just write about whatever and you'll get a surprise ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> xoxo,
> 
> -trash


	19. Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's pretty short sorry ;-;
> 
> Jesse's worried about talking to Hanzo, and Sombra's there to help.
> 
> Also d r a m a

Thankfully, Fareeha hadn’t been at the pet shop that Friday. Ana hadn’t said anything about it, and Jesse felt much more comfortable just leaving Fareeha out of his mind. Though, he couldn’t really think of anything but her. Being in the petshop just made him sadder. It was nothing but a reminder of what Fareeha had said to him. He’d ignored the few dozen texts she had sent him the past day and barely replied to the ones Lena had sent for her. Jesse just really didn’t want to talk to ‘Reeha. She was going to leave and he knew it was what she needed, but he still felt abandoned. He had known her for so long, he had gone to highschool with her where she helped him with his lessons, he had taught her spanish, they did baking with Gabe, they went to the park, they helped Ana with the pets. Fareeha been there whenever Jesse needed her, and he couldn’t count all the times he’d helped her sort out her problems. But now she was just going to up and leave. Leave all of the memories, leave all their favourite hangout spots, leave Lena and Sombra, and leave Jesse too. Talking to her now was an impossible task.

Instead, Jesse chatted away to Hanzo practically non stop. The Shimada thankfully agreed that Jesse did have a right to feel upset now, but reasoned that he couldn’t stay mad forever. The cowboy knew that was true, and had told Hanzo he would make sure to make up with Fareeha before she left. Among other things, Hanzo had done his best to convince Jesse the fair would be great. According to a flyer, you could reserve a special time and seat on the ferris wheel where you’d be able to see the fireworks that’d be going off. It sounded excellent to Jesse, but that wasn’t all. Hanzo had said if Jesse won 20 prizes, Genji would ask out the boy he liked. Jesse couldn’t say no to that, so he said he would go with Hanzo. He asked if he should bring money, but the Shimada said there was no point because he planned to pay any and all fares for Jesse.

Now, after work, Jesse lay on his bed, watching YouTube. There was this one song he had heard a while back and he couldn’t remember the name, so he was scouring his history for it. He was interrupted when a notification pinged on his phone, it was a text from Genji. Pressing it, he read through the text. ‘OMG how did you know??? Is it really that obvious? He doesn’t know, does he? I wanted to ask him out but I compared the way he acts towards me and the way he acts towards you guys and I think he’s just being friendly ;-;’ Jesse blinked at the text for a moment, then began to type something. As the last text he’d sent to the Shimada was ‘lmao I can’t decide if you’re a fashionista gay or a starbucks gay’ he didn’t really think that message was meant for him. But before Jesse could reply, it was followed up with Genji saying he had texted the wrong person, so the cowboy just deleted his message and got back to his YouTube. Interesting that he still hadn’t gotten an answer to that text about Genji’s gay stereotype. He started scrolling through his history again, but not ten seconds went by before his phone buzzed again. The text was once again from Genji, -this was starting to annoy Jesse- and it was a complaint about how Hanzo had made him promise to ask the guy out, so the text was clearly another wrong number mistake. Jesse paused, then wondered if he should also ‘accidentally’ text someone about the boy he liked… 

Deciding he’d leave it for later, Jesse checked the messages from Fareeha. Most of them just said she was sorry. Taking a deep breath, Jesse told her he was sorry as well, but he didn’t want to talk to her. She replied immediately, and Jesse realized she must have been waiting for him to text her back. She said she understood and she was sorry. Sighing, Jesse got up, putting his phone on the bedside table as he left his room. Going to Sombra’s room, Jesse knocked on the door, then waited. It opened, revealing his sister in her jeans and t-shirt.

“Yeah?” She asked, uninterested with him. Jesse narrowed his eyes.

“You an’ your friends are goin’ to the fair on Sunday?” He asked, folding his arms. Sombra yawned, her gaze resting on Jesse for a moment.

“Yeah.” She replied.

“And Genji has a crush on one of your friends?” Jesse asked. He wasn’t really sure which one it was, and it was even more difficult to understand as he hadn’t met any of them, but he’d probably figure it out if he actually saw Genji hanging out with them.

“Yeah. They’re so gay.” Sombra murmured, smirking to herself. “Why do you wanna know?” She asked. Jesse smiled. Sombra was clearly shipping it already, so she’d be delighted to know of the arrangement Jesse and Hanzo had come up with.

“Hanzo said if I win 20 prizes at the fair Genji has to ask his crush out.” He explained. Excitement sparked in his sister’s eyes, and she grinned enthusiastically at the idea. Yeah, this definitely had to happen. No way Genji could back out with so many people rooting for him.

“Oh thank god! Finally, they’ll stop their awful ‘friendly’ flirting and do actual flirting!” Sombra grimaced at the mention of the bad flirting. Jesse briefly wondered if he had also been doing ‘friendly’ flirting, which he hoped wasn’t the case. He’d hate it if someone was really nice to him but he couldn’t understand how they really felt, he hoped he wasn’t doing that to Hanzo… 

“Yeah, well, I’m gonna go to the park with Hanzo tomorrow.” Jesse added, not sure if he should really be asking Sombra for advice. As far as Jesse knew, she’d never been in a relationship, so how could she know what to do? “I’m supposed to be asking him out sometime, so should I do it then?” He asked, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Sombra immediately shook her head.

“Of course not! You’re going to a super fun fair with a ferris wheel and fireworks on Sunday! The park’s just a couple of trees and some grass!” She exclaimed. Jesse realized she had a point. The fair might be a bit more romantic… “Jesse, you’ve gotta wait until the perfect moment.” She said. He frowned.

“The perfect moment?” He asked, confused. He’d never heard of that term, but surely if he asked out Hanzo and got a yes then that would make it a perfect moment regardless of where or when it happened. Sure, the fair would be nice, but wouldn’t it be nicer without the anxiety of having to ask such an important question? If Jesse was going to get rejected, it didn’t sound super ideal to ask Hanzo out in front of like at least ten strangers. Sombra clearly didn’t share his worries as she explained.

“Si, si! The perfect moment! I’ve read about it, it’s where you’re really nervous to do something, or you’re scared of like dying or whatever, but suddenly it’s like the stars align and for a few brief moments you’re super confident and you do the thing you’re meant to and it almost always works out well!” She told him, practically jumping up and down. Jesse was still skeptical, though it kind of made sense.

“You’re saying I’m just gonna know straight away when I’m meant to ask him out?” He questioned. What if he thought he was supposed to ask Hanzo out but he got it wrong and it wasn’t actually the perfect moment so he messed up his chances? Sombra just nodded, at least she didn’t doubt Jesse.

“It’ll happen, trust me! When it’s the perfect moment, you won’t feel nervous, so just wait until you get the most incredible, really romantic, super amazing opportunity ever and then just ask him out! It’s fate!” She said, grinning at Jesse. If she was right then he’d get the perfect moment no matter what. He just had to remember that; most incredible, really romantic, and super amazing. Well, fate might just take mercy on Jesse for once.

“Alright. If it’s gonna be Sunday, I’ll wait.” He decided. Sombra hugged him tightly, giving him a little bit more confidence. Sunday…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay okay I know this was a short chapter but the next one is seriously crazy okay just trust me on this
> 
> I now have a discord server! https://discord.gg/hu3wDZV
> 
> You can join if you want, I'm always down for more friends! I plan to run polls, talk about ships, and get input from other readers and authors about my writing! You could also maybe leave some suggestions about what I should write owo  
> Feel free to come hang out, I'll be explaining a bit more about my schedule and the other fics I want to write, so it'd be awesome if you could join! Y'ain't obligated to though!
> 
> can't fucking believe I just said y'ain't tbh
> 
> love y'all


	20. Intrigued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse and Hanzo go to the park, and they meet some 'friends'

Smiling, Jesse let his eyes rest on Hanzo for a moment as the Shimada sat on the park bench. He was scrolling through his phone, casually waiting for Jesse. Black jeans, dark grey hoodie, hair tied back, uninterested expression staring at the mobile device in his hand. After a few moments, Hanzo looked up, his eyes meeting Jesse’s. He immediately smiled, mirroring McCree’s own expression. Honestly, Jesse felt like he was in a movie from how cliche this felt. That didn’t make it any less brilliant to see Hanzo smiling at him.

“Hello, Jesse.” The Shimada said, getting up to greet him. Jesse grinned sheepishly.

“Howdy, Han’. Genji here?” Jesse asked, glancing around. He had to admit he’d prefer if the younger Shimada wasn’t, but whatever. Surprisingly though, Hanzo shook his head.

“No, it is just me. Why, am I too boring for you?” He smiled nervously and raised an eyebrow, looking a bit worried for a few seconds. Jesse chuckled.

“Naw, you’re plenty fun Hanzo. Just thought I might get too unbearable if you didn’t have your brother to make up for my tackiness.” Jesse grinned, hands on his hips. Hanzo laughed.

“I can guarantee if I had a problem with your tackiness Genji would not be the solution.” He replied, shaking his head. Jesse knew that was actually pretty true.

“So, why are we here? Not gonna lie, the park is pretty, but if you’re lookin’ for somethin’ interestin’ ta do, y’ain’t gonna find it here.” He said, glancing around at the park. There were three kids Jesse thought he recognized sitting on a picnic blanket, but he didn’t remember their names. A blonde skinny boy chatting away to some guy with dreadlocks, as well as a girl with long dark hair sitting next to them on her phone. Turning his attention back to Hanzo, Jesse was surprised to see hesitation in his eyes.

“I have heard this place is good for seeing wildlife. I thought we could maybe, well, perhaps take a walk?” Hanzo asked, glancing away. Jesse’s heart melted.

“Well, shucks. I’d love to, Hanzo.” He murmured. Eyes meeting for a moment, Hanzo and Jesse smiled softly at each other, a few moments of comfortable silence. That had to end when someone started yelling at them.

“Oi! Whatsyourname! J-Jack? No- Jesse!” Called the blonde kid, waving at Jesse and Hanzo. The kid’s friends visibly cringed beside him, glaring at their friend. Jesse glanced at Hanzo, who just looked uncomfortable. The cowboy chuckled softly, then sighed, exasperated.

“I think we’d better go see what they want, Han’. At least, I will, if you don’t wanna come…” Jesse murmured, taking a few steps towards the kids as the blonde one kept waving at him.

“No, I will join you. I’m intrigued to see what that boy wanted with you.” Hanzo decided. Walking in step with the Shimada, Jesse instinctively wanted to hold Hanzo’s hand. He dawdled on the thought for a few moments, but they had already reached to where the kids were sitting before Jesse could make up his mind.

“G’day, Jesse and uh- Genji’s brother! I was just wanting to ask you if two-” The australian kid started, but was immediately stopped as the other boy shoved a hand over his mouth, muffling whatever he’d wanted to say.

“Cala a boca, Jamie!” The kid snapped. Hanzo seemed intrigued.

“Portuguese...?” He murmured, maybe to himself, maybe to the kid.

“I’m Brazilian. Surprised you knew that, Shimada-sama.” The kid replied. Hanzo tensed beside Jesse, startled that the kid knew who he was.

“Sorry- Let us introduce ourselves! I’m Lúcio Correia dos Santos, this is Hana Song,” He pointed to the girl dressed in pink, who only gave a peace sign in response.

“And this is Jamison Fawkes.” He continued, gesturing to the kid now twitching impatiently.

“I’m friends with Sombra and your brother Genji.” He added, smiling at Hanzo. The Shimada raised his eyebrows.

“Ah. You must be the ones Genji is always playing games with. I did not recognize you due to the fact your icons are animals.” He murmured. The Australian kid, Jamie, opened his mouth again, but Lúcio quickly tackled him down.

“You can’t ask them that Jamie, that’s not something you can ask people!” Lúcio exclaimed. Jesse blinked as Jamison forced his way back to sitting and asked his question.

“Are you blokes dating each other? Not that there’s anything wrong with that but I’m just curious because both of you seem pretty entranced with each other and that’s really fuckin’ gay, you know?” Jesse and Hanzo froze, staring at him.

“Oh sweet Jesus. Jamie, not everyone is gay just because they like being around each other! You can’t ask people that, that’s not okay!” Lúcio said, glaring at Jamie.

“What? You and Genji act like that all the time with each other and I know you guys are definitely gay together so these two probably are too!” Jamie replied, immediately causing Lúcio to stop.

“What? I- Me and Genji aren’t gay- What do you mean we act like them- We’re not-” Lúcio stuttered. Jamie shook his head.

“Don’t try and deny it, mate! I’ve seen the cringey flirting with my own two eyes!” He snapped, eyes blazing. The previously quiet Hana snickered, finally speaking.

“Sorry, Jesse and Hanzo. You guys can leave. Don’t worry about the question, it was just Jamie being weird.” She said, not looking up from her phone. At least this kid was polite. Kind of. Jesse cleared his throat.

“Good advice. Let’s go, Han’. Pleasure talkin’ to y’all… I think.” Jesse said, grabbing Hanzo by the arm and heading down the path towards some trees. And with that, they had left behind the awkward kids. Once they were definitely away, Jesse let go of Hanzo’s arm, staring at the ground. The Shimada kept walking, clearly not wanting to stop and talk about it, but he kept at a slow pace, so Jesse didn’t think he was trying to get away from McCree. Jesse was shocked by what that kid had asked, and he was pretty sure he’d need years to recover before he could ever talk about it with Hanzo...

~~

The two older teens had kept walking along the path quietly, not letting themselves make eye contact. Jesse glanced at Hanzo occasionally, unable to read the Shimada’s expression. He wore a neutral one himself. If he smiled, it might seem like he found it funny they were mistaken for a couple. That wasn’t funny. That was awkward, and scary, and way too much confrontation. If Jesse frowned, Hanzo might think McCree didn’t want people thinking he was dating Hanzo, which was definitely not true. He would love to date Hanzo. He was meant to ask him out, even. But now was far from the perfect moment.

“I would comment on how nice the trees look, but I would be avoiding the inevitable conversation.” Hanzo murmured. Jesse blinked. He stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. He knew they had to actually talk about what had happened with Jamison, but what if Hanzo was just weirded out by it? If Jesse said the way he felt, Hanzo might be weirded out by him too. 

“I would comment on how nice the sunshine feels, but I would be avoiding the inevitable conversation.” Jesse said softly.

“I would comment on how refreshing the breeze is, but I would be avoiding the inevitable conversation.” The Shimada smiled.

“I would comment on how nice your hair looks, but I would be avoiding the inevitable conversation.” McCree glanced at Hanzo. Quiet for a moment. Jesse quickly looked away, regretting his words.

“I would comment on how I enjoy spending time with you, but…” Hanzo paused, his smile fading.

“But then I would be confronting the inevitable conversation.” He sighed. Jesse frowned at the ground, unsure of what to say.

“Do ya really mean that?” He asked, taking one step closer to Hanzo, yet continuing the slow pace along the trail.

“It is only as sincere as you are when you use pet names.” Hanzo murmured. Jesse blinked.

“Then it’s the most sincere thing you’ve ever said, pumpkin.” He said quietly, barely daring to breathe. Hanzo smiled, bashfully looking at the ground.

“Would ya like to get somethin’ to eat, buttercup? There’s a nice ice-cream place around here.” Jesse said, deciding to leave the conversation there. Hanzo simply nodded, and they kept walking until they found another path breaking away, leading outside of the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah it's gencio at least one person guessed it so props to you
> 
> Cala a boca - Shut your mouth!
> 
> I updated the taaaags wooo I'm doing my homework right
> 
> If I ever forget the little dash over the ú on lucio's name in future chapters feel free to correct me in the comments because I'll probably miss it
> 
> just a reminder my discord server is up and running, there's a link in the previous chapter end notes okay byyyyeeee


	21. Quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of the last chapter, things are kinda awkward- they're working on it

Neither Jesse nor Hanzo said anything as they ate their ice-creams. Jesse had gotten chocolate hazelnut, Hanzo had gotten raspberry with white chocolate chips. Jesse liked this place because they made actual ice-cream from scratch. Plus they had a bunch of awesome toppings. He had gotten chopped macadamia nuts and some chocolate flakes to sprinkle over top. Hanzo got fresh raspberries and a fancy wafer stick. They had talked a bit, about how nice the store was, all the toppings, their favourite flavours of ice-cream. But the talking was strained and no conversation lasted for more than a few minutes. Jesse could tell Hanzo was upset with what had happened, but he didn’t know if that was good or bad. Well, it was bad, of course, it’d always be bad for Hanzo to be upset. But was the Shimada upset because he thought Jesse didn’t want to date him or because he didn’t like that people thought he was dating Jesse?

Hanzo pulled out his phone, tapping away. Jesse blinked as his own phone made a noise. Pulling it out of his pocket, he read the text from Hanzo. The Shimada asked if they were still going to the fair. Jesse replied, saying he wanted to, but if Hanzo didn’t want him there then he wouldn’t go. They both paused for what seemed like eons, Jesse nervously anticipating the reply as they continued to eat their ice-creams quietly. After a few moments Hanzo tapped out a response. ‘Of course I want you there.’

Jesse smiled, putting his phone away. He glanced over at Hanzo, whose calm expression rested on his own phone for a moment more. Looking up, the Shimada met eyes with Jesse, and they grinned sheepishly at each other. Jesse looked away after a moment, clearing his throat.

“The fair sounds like it’ll be pretty great.” He murmured. He licked his ice-cream nervously, avoiding eye contact. Hanzo nodded.

“Yes, it’s supposed to be one of the best.” The Shimada murmured. Jesse tilted his head at that.

“The best? Like, in the world, or in America, or...?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Hanzo smirked, shaking his head.

“The best in your lifetime, cowboy.” He replied, amusement gleaming in his eyes. Jesse chuckled. That might just be true, depending on whether or not he got a boyfriend out of it… 

“Well, I’m sure it will be. How are we gonna make sure we get the best seat to see the fireworks, though?” He questioned, curious to see what answer Hanzo would come up with. You could reserve a spot, yeah, but that sounded like it would be in high demand. The Shimada laughed, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Money, dear cowboy. Money can buy practically anything.” He explained, eating more of the raspberry ice-cream. Jesse snickered.

“Can’t buy me love.” He replied. Hanzo raised one eyebrow.

“Are you really doing that?” The Shimada asked, unable to keep his amusement from the exasperated sigh he gave Jesse. The cowboy glared mischievously at the Shimada as he continued.

“Well, darlin’, I don’t care too much for money, ‘cause money can’t buy me love.” Jesse barely stopped himself from laughing. He gave Hanzo a challenging look, silently daring him to join in.

“Yes, yes. Money cannot buy me love.” Hanzo murmured, looking away with an embarrassed smile. Jesse was proud he had managed to make Hanzo smile and blush at the same time.

“Tell me that ya want the kind of thing, that money just can’t buy.” Jesse was surprised Hanzo even knew ‘Can’t buy me love’, but the Shimada had proven to be a man of culture. McCree wasn’t sure if the Beatles even counted as culture, but he was gonna treat them as if they did. Hanzo was silent for a moment, clearly thinking.

“Very well. If I must have something money cannot get, I want a gift from you.” He said, smiling.

“You sure money can’t get you a present?” Jesse asked. Hanzo shook his head.

“Not a present from you. You wouldn’t charge me for a gift, would you?” The Shimada asked, eyes filled with fake surprise as he placed a hand on his chest in exaggerated shock. Jesse laughed, shaking his head.

“Naw, I wouldn’t do that to you, darlin’. Well done.” McCree felt his heart skip a beat as he saw Hanzo’s eyes light up when Jesse laughed. He loved to see the Shimada so happy, and it was even better that Jesse had been the one to make him that way. A gift… What gift could Jesse give the guy who had everything? After a few moments of comfortable silence McCree remembered the original topic of the discussion.

“Anyway, the fair should be a blast. I’m pretty sure I can get 20 prizes, especially with unlimited turns.” Jesse said, being hit with a wave of excitement as well as fear for tomorrow. The fair was going to be amazing, yes, but Jesse was meant to ask Hanzo out. He had promised Gabe and Sombra he would, he couldn’t back out. He hoped it would go well. At least Genji would have to do the same thing, so they could drown their sorrows in ice-cream together if it went wrong.

“Indeed.” Hanzo chuckled. “I suppose we met that boy today. What did he say his name was? Lúcio? He was brazilian, wasn’t he? He seemed quite polite.” He said, doing a good job at avoiding talking about the other thing that had happened when they talked to the kids.

“Yeah, he seemed cool. That girl, uh… Hana. I think Sombra’s talked about her before, she does streaming or something. Making a career for herself out of something she loves. Good on her.” Jesse said, noticing he was almost out of ice-cream. Hanzo nodded.

“Yes, it is great that technology has made so much more accessible for our generation.” The Shimada murmured. Jesse chuckled.

“To be honest, they don’t feel like they’re in our generation at all. That Hana? On her phone constantly. Didn’t even bat an eye when we showed up. I kinda feel sorry for her, stuck in the digital world.” He said, shaking his head at the memory of the girl. Hanzo smiled.

“Yes, I know! She did not even look at us when she was speaking to us! I had no idea teenagers could get so invested in their phones. What do you think she was doing?” Hanzo asked. Ignoring the fact that Jesse had just last night spent hours on his phone messaging Hanzo, McCree was quite surprised at the behaviour of those kids.

“I reckon she was talkin’ to her gamer friends, or buying something with someone else’s money.” Lúcio was the most polite of the younger teens, but he was still quite a forward person, treating Jesse and Hanzo like best friends even though they barely knew each other. Hana was fine, but she didn’t seem to be particularly interested in anyone or anything.

But neither of them were as terrible as the other kid. Jamison had yelled at Jesse and Hanzo, and completely interrupted their time together. He assumed they were gay despite not doing anything friends wouldn’t do. He even called out Lúcio on his gayness. It was as if the kid had a 24/7 gaydar and just assumed straight people were a myth. Jesse really hoped that wasn’t the case with young kids. Maybe it was just Jamison who had such a determination to call people out on their gayness. Yet, he wasn’t wrong about it. Jesse loved Hanzo and apparently Lúcio and Genji really liked each other. Hopefully they wouldn’t see that kid again for a while, and if they did, he wouldn’t yell about how gay McCree was… 

~

Jesse sat patiently, unsure of what to do. By now, both older teens had finished their Ice-creams and were out of things to talk about. Jesse honestly quite enjoyed just watching Hanzo look at his phone, the way he raised one eyebrow every so often, the occasional tilt of his head, the times when he smirked at what he was reading. Yet, despite the lovely view, Jesse was getting bored. Yawning intentionally louder than normal, Jesse caught Hanzo’s attention. The Shimada quickly stood up, putting his phone away.

“It was nice to hang out with you, cowboy.” He said, nodding his head politely. Jesse cleared his throat and stood up as well, checking he had all his belongings.

“You too, Han’. I’ll see you tomorrow, darlin’.” He replied, returning the nod. The two smiled at each other for a few seconds, then Hanzo turned away and began walking to the door. Jesse got his phone out and sent a text to Gabe, telling his pa to come pick him up. Looking up, Jesse was just in time to meet Hanzo’s eyes, which were looking directly at him, before the Shimada was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UwU
> 
> reminder that you can join my discord server!!!! recently had a poll to decide which fic I should write next for this au  
> https://discord.gg/hu3wDZV  
> I'm not gonna stop plugging this btw, glhf


	22. Paranoid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pAnic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shrug

For some reason, Jesse had been woken up. It wasn’t because of a loud noise, and judging by his heartbeat and his breathing no-one had tried to suffocate him, and it wasn’t a nightmare either. He reached out for his phone, patting at his bedside table in confusion as he couldn’t find it. Rolling over, Jesse blinked groggily. Where was his phone? It was literally the only thing he had to tell him the time. Well, he could get his computer, but that was a lot of effort. Besides that there was nothing in the nearby vicinity. They had an analogue clock in the kitchen but if Jesse got up now it might turn out to be 4am and he’d stay awake for the next 4 hours unable to sleep until he was actually meant to get up. Sitting up, Jesse slouched as he looked around. After a few unenthusiastic glances, Jesse gave up on the hunt for his phone and laid back down with a huff.

After giving up, Jesse lay for a few minutes, being annoyed at his phone for being missing and himself for being unable to find it. That is, until he felt an uncomfortable suspiciously rectangular object trying to embed itself in his back. He had apparently slept on his phone in the night, and with a quick check McCree noted that it was about to die. He also noted that it was 5:26 in the morning, and he still had plenty of time to sleep. Plugging in his phone, Jesse rolled back onto his side and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He was hit with the realization that today was the day of the fair, the day when he would tell Hanzo how he felt. Jesse was expecting a jolt of energy to pull him from drowsiness so he could stay awake worrying for the next few hours, but his body had apparently had enough of him being scared, and instead made his conscience fade away.

~~

“Oh come on, luv. Hanzo said he’d meet you at the lime coloured oak tree and this is clearly an emerald coloured bonsai tree. You’re really silly sometimes, Jesse.” Lena said, pulling Jesse along with her. Jesse glanced around, there were bright lights and loud noises, but they were blurry and muffled. He gulped, unsure of where he was. When he looked back at Lena, she had changed. A girl, a girl Jesse knew he recognized, was holding his hand as she tugged him along.

“Uh, excuse me?” Jesse asked, stopping. The girl turned around, her bright brown eyes startlingly familiar, but her name was lost in his memories.

“Jesse, we’re going to find Hanzo! He said to meet him by the teal birch tree, remember?” She said, trying to tug at his arm. Jesse stayed still, confused. He knew this girl, she had mocha skin, dark hair and a floral patterned dress. At first he thought it was Fareeha, but she didn’t quite look right. He had no idea who exactly she was, but she was definitely important. Glancing around again, Jesse was startled to find that the bright lights and noise had gone, replaced by darkness and silence. Afraid, Jesse looked back at the person holding his hand. It was Genji.

“Konichiwa. Shinpai shinaide.” He said. Jesse didn’t understand what was happening and he was only getting more terrified. Genji tugged at his hand and wind rushed past them as Jesse was forced to run. It felt like he wasn’t even touching the ground as they sped through the darkness. He closed his eyes tightly, afraid.

Jesse’s heart dropped to his stomach as he lost the feeling of Genji’s hand, the Shimada seeming to have faded to nothing. McCree opened his eyes just in time to see a hill, with a cherry blossom tree. Under it sat none other than Hanzo. Jesse’s confusion was quickly replaced with horror as he felt something hit his leg, hard, and he was tumbling to the ground.

~~

Waking for the second time that morning, this time with a start, Jesse sat up immediately. He looked around his room, eyes wide and scared. There was nothing unusual, just his closed curtains dulling bright sunlight from outside. Grabbing his phone, McCree looked at the time. 8:30. He had slept for about 3 hours, but had only been dreaming for what seemed like a few minutes. But dream time worked strangely, so he’d maybe been dreaming for all three of the hours he had managed to sleep. No matter how long it took, his dream was still haunting him in the waking world. The part with Lena was weird, the strange girl was just confusing and Genji had said something in Japanese. Most of it was fuzzy in Jesse’s mind, but the clearest part was when he saw Hanzo on the hill, cherry blossoms falling down from above him and his hair flowing in the breeze. That was a sight Jesse wouldn’t forget for a long time.

Calming down a bit, Jesse reminded himself it had only been a dream. Yet, he definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep again after that. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Jesse pondered the day for a few minutes. Right. The fair. Well, he had to start by going to the pet store, then he’d have half an hour at home to do whatever, then he’d be at the fair by 5. Checking his phone, Jesse decided to confront one of the conversations he had been avoiding.

‘Going to the fair tonight. Will you be there?’ he asked Fareeha. She probably knew about it, it seemed to be all the talk. Sombra or Genji would have told Lena and Lena would have told Fareeha. Maybe ‘Reeha didn’t want to hang out with Jesse, but he’d just be disappointed in himself if he didn’t even try to make friends again.

‘Yes’ was the reply. Yawning, Jesse sent one last message before he got up to get changed. He decided to just put on jeans and a t-shirt, since nothing special would be happening until later and he could put on something more stylish before he went to the fair.

~~

“It’s all good.” Smiling, Jesse rested his hand on Fareeha’s shoulder. He could tell she was still feeling guilty, but he really couldn’t be mad at her. She was leaving town, away from her friends and family, to achieve her dreams. Jesse would be the one staying at home, able to hang out with his friends or go to the park or go shopping whenever he wanted. Fareeha would soon be in a strange place where she’d have to make new friends and find new places to get food and she wouldn’t have anyone to rely on. It was gonna be stressful, and the last thing she needed was Jesse getting angry at her.

“I really should have told you earlier, though. If I had even just mentioned I was thinking about moving closer to Uni, we could have all avoided this.” She murmured. Jesse didn’t like that she was still blaming herself, it was out of place for Fareeha to lack her energy and confidence.

“Oh well. I’m glad you’re getting to do something you’ve always wanted, ‘Reeha.” McCree murmured. Fareeha smiled gratefully, relief flashing in her eyes. Ana cleared her throat, interrupting the brief quiet.

“Those budgies won’t feed themselves.” She said pointedly, folding her arms. Jesse and Fareeha laughed, getting the hint.

~~

At home, Jesse took a shower and put on some nicer clothes. He was excited for the fair, trying to push his nervousness away as he scarfed down a couple of slices of pizza Gabe had insisted his kids have before they left. Jesse and Sombra’s pa had been adamant they eat something. Gabe wouldn’t be at the fair, he was doing something with Ana at her house. If Jesse had to guess, he’d say it was cluedo. Or poker. Something they could bet on. When McCree had asked, his pa had said something about how a ‘Reinhardt’ would be drinking non stop, which told Jesse nothing.

“Jessito! Hurry up, we’re gonna be late! Hana said they’ve found Genji and Hanzo!” Sombra called from downstairs. Jesse quickly scanned his dresser, grabbed his phone, wallet and his keys, then was out the door and racing downstairs. Unfortunately, all of Sombra’s friends would be at the fair too. That included a certain blonde haired Australian boy.

“Tell ‘em not to let that kid ask Hanzo any questions!” He said as he joined Sombra at the bottom of the stairs. She laughed.

“Sure thing, Jessito.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konichiwa - Hello  
> Shinpai shinaide - Do not worry
> 
> wow this chapter was uploaded on time, and now y'all know how many there are left to go
> 
> I plan to explain where this au is going in chapter 24 end notes btw, I'm planning it all rn we gucci fam
> 
> there's always more to the story, I love my versions of these characters too much to let them go with just one fic ;p
> 
> dOnt fOrgEt mY dIscOrd sErvEr gUyS
> 
> I need friends


	23. Excited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fun at the fair, plus some fluff for y'all

As soon as he got out of the car, Jesse was immediately overwhelmed. The entrance to the fair was incredibly bright, neon lights flashing at him. They clearly wanted as many people as possible to know it was going on, and apparently they thought the dozens of posters that had been put up around town weren’t enough. Regardless, the bright lights didn’t dampen Jesse’s spirits. He wondered if perhaps they would upset Hanzo, however, who didn’t seem to be a fan of such ‘tacky’ things like neon signs and loud music. Yet, wasn’t Japan full of those kinds of things? Jesse’s thoughts were broken by a shout. Looking over, he spotted the bright green hair through the crowd almost immediately. A certain Shimada was rushing towards him, and it wasn’t the one he wanted most. Though, it was still nice that Genji was so enthusiastic.

“Jesse!” He yelled, even though he was less than ten feet away. Crashing into Jesse, Genji hugged him tightly. McCree laughed, taking a step back to stop himself falling over.

“What a welcome, Genji.” Jesse said, ruffling the younger Shimada’s hair. Letting him go, Genji smiled brightly. McCree glanced past him, seeing a small crowd of his other friends. And other acquaintances. Lena was chatting to Lúcio excitedly, Sombra had hurried over to talk to Hana, and Fareeha was tilting her head as she spoke to Jamison. Then Jesse met eyes with Hanzo. They were looking at each other for a few moments, Jesse lost in the warm friendly gaze, before Genji cut into McCree’s thoughts.

“You’re supposed to be winning prizes, Cowboy!” He exclaimed, grabbing Jesse’s hand and tugging him towards the group. Jesse was hit with deja vu, his dream echoing in his mind for a few moments, before he brushed it off and looked around for the first game he’d play.

~~

“That- That makes 16…” Genji said, nervousness thick in his voice. Jesse chuckled, the Shimada had clearly not expected McCree to actually be able to get 20 prizes, and the fear of asking his crush out seemed to be setting in. Hanzo stood beside Jesse with his arms folded triumphantly, clearly glad Genji would have to stay true to his promise. McCree couldn’t place why Hanzo would so fiercely want his brother to ask someone out, but if he was happy Jesse was winning prizes, Jesse would keep winning prizes. They only had 4 more to get, and it had barely been an hour. The sun was still in the sky, though it was beginning to set. Granted, it was hard to notice the light fading with all the neon LEDs flashing at Jesse, but he still sensed the change from late afternoon to the evening.

“I’m gonna get 4 more, then me and Han’ will go get some food while you talk to this crush o’ yours.” Jesse said, smirking as Genji blushed.

“Fine, fine...” He said simply, clearly regretting ever agreeing to the bet. But if Jesse had learned anything about the Shimadas, it was that they kept their promises. Hanzo rested his hand on McCree’s shoulder, a gesture that set his heart on fire as he looked over at the older Shimada.

“You have to admire his determination.” Hanzo murmured, watching his brother as he looked around for a game they hadn’t played yet. Jesse nodded, hoping he wasn’t blushing as he replied.

“Yeah. Asking out someone you like takes a lot of guts.” Jesse agreed, looking at Genji. The younger Shimada waved at them from a new stall, he had found another game for Jesse to play. Chuckling softly, Hanzo left Jesse’s side to see what Genji had decided on. McCree watched him go for a moment, waiting for the butterflies in his stomach to settle.

~~

Standing patiently, Jesse and Hanzo were enjoying candyfloss and fries as they waited for Genji. The younger teen had gone off to ask out the kid and he would be back soon enough. Jesse was having blue candyfloss, he liked it much better than pink, yet he didn’t know why. Hanzo had gone with the traditional pink, managing to not get his face covered in candyfloss somehow, which was a thing Jesse had never been able to do. There was a comfortable silence between them, though it wasn’t really very silent because of the general noise of the fair. Neither of them spoke though, simply choosing to enjoy each other's company.

After a while, Jesse got a notification on his phone. Pulling it out, he planned to read the message, but was interrupted by a chuckle next to him, Hanzo looking ahead. McCree followed his gaze to see the younger Shimada brother practically beaming as he skipped towards them. Beside him was a very happy Lúcio, who had his arm linked with Genji’s. As the duo came to a stop in front of Jesse and Hanzo, there was a pause as they blinked at each other. Hanzo’s eyes were rested on Lúcio, who seemed to be uncomfortable under the older Shimada’s gaze.

“I take it that went well?” Hanzo asked, smiling gently. Lúcio and Genji seemed to relax. It hadn’t occurred to Jesse that Hanzo might have disapproved of Genji’s crush, and the younger Shimada hadn’t shown he was nervous about what Hanzo would think, but surprisingly Genji seemed to actually care about Hanzo’s opinion. Perhaps Sombra’s friends really didn’t know Hanzo. They seemed to treat him with respect he hadn’t asked for. Okay, not Jamison, but Lúcio was particularly polite to Hanzo. Jesse supposed they only knew the side of Hanzo that Genji had told them about. The side that was always neat, the side that didn’t laugh at bad puns, the side that Jesse had been able to see through. Hopefully Lúcio would learn that Hanzo was a kind, fun person, who loved laughing and always made Jesse smile. Or maybe that was a side of Hanzo that only Jesse would know.

“Yes, it did.” Genji replied. Jesse noticed the Shimada’s gaze flicker to his crush. Well, it was more than a crush, they were boyfriends now. Genji glanced at his phone, reading a message. After a couple moments, he returned his attention to Jesse and Hanzo and cleared his throat.

“We will go meet up with the others. The fireworks start in half an hour, so you two can perhaps wander around for a bit. Remember, the fair will end at 9.” He murmured, giving the two older teens a nod before turning to leave. Lúcio smiled cheerfully at Jesse and Hanzo, waving goodbye with the hand that wasn’t intertwined with Genji’s as they left. Jesse was envious of Genji and Lúcio’s new found relationship. Yet, perhaps tonight would end with him finding his own relationship, with a different Shimada brother…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooOOooOohhhhh rEaLly jEsSe yOu tHiNk sO?
> 
> wow gencio is official what a shocker i hope yall dont hate it im sorry
> 
> next chapter is pretty much only mchanzo, and im gonna make a super long end note so i can go on and on about my next fic, which im assuming none of you r gonna read anyway lmao glhf


	24. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean, come on, the title gives it away.

Jesse and Hanzo had been wandering round for the past twenty-five minutes, content with just looking at the rest of the fair. As they walked side by side to each new game, or ride, or food stall, Jesse had been extremely aware of Hanzo’s closeness. He was honestly just upset that he wasn’t holding the Shimada’s hand. Each time Hanzo leaned closer to Jesse to whisper a joke in his ear, each time their shoulders brushed, each time the Shimada’s eyes got a little brighter because of a pet name, it all made McCree sure he would faint. The fair had gotten even more fun as time went on, but Jesse had also gotten more nervous. He was afraid of having to confess his feelings to Hanzo. Jesse felt so devoted to the Shimada, like he could spend the rest of his life with him, yet Hanzo probably didn’t feel that way at all. Jesse frowned at the ground, wondering if he should just skip out on the whole love confession and just stay friends with Hanzo.

“What’s wrong?” Hanzo’s voice cut through Jesse’s thoughts, startling the cowboy as he looked up. The gentleness in the Shimada’s eyes was enough to make McCree’s heart ache.

“N-Nothin’. Just wonderin’ about the uh, the fireworks. Hope they won’t be a disappointment to ya.” Jesse lied. But saying that only made more worries flare in his mind. What if Hanzo actually didn’t like the fireworks? If they were really bad would the Shimada just completely disregard whatever Jesse said? Hanzo’s amused gaze blinked at Jesse.

“That won’t be a problem. No matter the quality of the fireworks, what matters is that I will be seeing them with you.” Hanzo murmured, faint blush tinting his cheeks. Jesse couldn’t even begin to find words that could possibly describe how much he loved Hanzo at that moment. Was this it? The perfect moment? Despite how incredible Hanzo’s words were, Jesse still felt terrified. Sombra had said he wouldn’t be nervous when the time was right.

“Glad ta hear that, pumpkin.” He said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Quickly taking out his phone, he glanced at the time. Eight minutes before the fireworks would start. Hanzo noticed as well, and immediately grabbed Jesse’s hand and made a beeline for the ferris wheel, which shone brightly at the opposite end of the fair. McCree wasn’t really paying attention to the route they were taking, instead appreciating the feel of Hanzo’s hand holding on tightly to Jesse’s own. After about two minutes of walking quickly to the ferris wheel, Hanzo stopped abruptly and Jesse almost ran straight into him, halting himself just in time. 

Much to Jesse’s despair, Hanzo let go of his hand, leaving him to walk past the short line of people waiting for the ferris wheel to stop. By the looks of it, none of them would be missing out on the ride despite the two new people, but Hanzo still went to the front of the line to talk to someone. After a few moments, Hanzo returned to Jesse’s side, only to pull him away again. Jesse was lead to the front of the line, and thankfully no-one complained as he and Hanzo got into the bright blue seat, which Jesse was pretty sure was called a carriage, even though it had no roof.

A few minutes later, it seemed everything was set up for the ferris wheel. The fireworks would start soon, and Jesse assumed they’d stop at very top of the ride to look at them.

“Thank ya for all this, Han’. It means a lot to me, that you’d set this up just for me.” Jesse murmured. Hanzo blinked across from him, surprised.

“Why wouldn’t I? You deserve it, cowboy. You have given me great friends, and shown me that this country is not at all as bad as I thought it was.” He replied, looking down at the fair below. McCree smiled softly, and there was silence for a few moments.

“Jesse. I need to tell you something.” Hanzo said quietly. Jesse gulped.

“Can I tell you somethin’ first?” He asked, hoping his fear didn’t show in his voice. Hanzo turned to look at him, confused.

“If you would like to.” He said, eyes betraying his want to ask questions, as well as an emotion Jesse couldn’t place.

“I… I really like you Hanzo.” Jesse said. Hanzo was blank. “I- I have for a while now and it’s alright if you don’t feel the same but I just needed you to know.” Jesse said in a rush. The Shimada started to look a bit stunned. Shaking his head, McCree cleared his throat.

“What I’m tryna say is I want to date you.” He explained, not meeting Hanzo’s eyes. There was a long pause, regret and sadness swirling in Jesse’s stomach.

A hand cupped Jesse’s cheek, and he looked up to stare into Hanzo’s eyes. He had never seen them this way, the Shimada’s emotions so strong and bright in his irises. There wasn’t sadness, or anger, or anything bad in his gaze. Just the mysterious emotion Jesse finally realized could only be love. Hanzo leaned closer to Jesse and they both closed their eyes, lips meeting for a soft kiss. Jesse could barely comprehend anything, his heart was racing and he knew his cheeks were red. But he wasn’t nervous anymore. He felt great.

It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time the kiss ended, the teens breaking apart slowly to stare at each other. They both wanted to say something, but were stopped by a booming in the sky. Surprised, they turned and watched as more fireworks burst upwards, leaving a trail gleaming like stars before each exploded into fireballs of colours, then faded away.

Jesse and Hanzo were silent as the fireworks continued bright blazing colours stealing all their attention, though McCree’s mind was screaming for him to look at Hanzo. He resisted, only letting his gaze leave the sky once the show was done. He glanced at Hanzo, meeting his gaze, then bashfully looked away. Jesse wasn’t sure how Hanzo was feeling, but he felt ecstatic. He had just confessed his feelings to the love of his life, and he got a kiss in return! A shy, uncertain kiss, but still a kiss of love and affection! That was much better than a no! Jesse was filled with energy, he could do anything as long as he knew Hanzo at least liked him enough to kiss him.

As the ferris wheel slowly rotated, bringing Jesse and Hanzo closer to the ground, McCree was wondering what to say to the Shimada. After a little while of waiting, the ground eventually coming up to meet them, they got off the ride, and both stopped a little bit away from the new queue of people wanting a go before the fair ended. Jesse couldn’t help smiling.

“So, is that a yes?” He asked, struggling to keep himself calm. Hanzo was silent for a few seconds, before he let his hand brush against McCree’s. Jesse grasped it without hesitation. He wasn’t going to let Hanzo doubt his feelings.

“I would say so.” Hanzo murmured, smiling shyly at the ground. Jesse practically glowed, barely resisting the urge to leap into the air.

“Well then, darlin’. Shall we meet up with the others?” McCree asked, beginning to walk in the direction of the entrance to the fair. Hanzo was still for a moment, but he gradually seemed to become more confident as he walked in step with Jesse.

“We shall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy lord jesus christ
> 
> wow Jesse has a boyfriend now who saw that coming
> 
> just one more chapter after this, almost at the end! I've been updating this fic every saturday, or friday for some people, for the past like 24, 25 weeks? that's actually 6 months. I'm utter trash at this point please send help
> 
> don't worry we're almost done so you'll be free from this god awful fic
> 
> love y'all


	25. Smoothies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse has a boyfriend now
> 
> nice

As they approached the entrance of the fair, fingers intertwined, Jesse and Hanzo talked softly to each other, settling into the feelings of walking side by side, holding hands, and quietly joking together. Jesse was still comprehending the fact that he had kissed Hanzo, and now they were actually dating. He officially had a boyfriend now. When Jesse was younger, he had never really been optimistic about his future. He had assumed he would die in a shooting, or he’d kill himself, or overdose on some drug he got addicted to. Probably one made by that God awful doctor… Yet now it seemed Jesse would one day die of old age, or some deadly disease, or a car crash. Those weren’t enjoyable either, but at least they were what normal people died of. If you ignored Jesse’s past, and his anxiety, and his psycho-analyzing sister, and his ex-Overwatch Commander dad, and his former gang empire heir boyfriend, as well as his friend who was the former gang empire heir boyfriend’s brother, not to mention Jesse’s multiple other friends who were also extremely unusual, perhaps the cowboy could almost pass as a normal person. And that was actually what he had always wanted to be.

“You’ve really never had a pumpkin spice latte? You do realize Starbucks is popular for a reason, right?” Jesse murmured in Hanzo’s ear, amused. The Shimada chuckled quietly, turning to smile at him.

“I have never bothered going to one before. I’ve had no reason to visit a coffee shop that prides itself on such - how would I describe it? Unique? Such unique coffees.” Hanzo replied. “And such unique ways of spelling very simple names.” He added, smirking. “Perhaps I ought to go to one. With you.” He suggested, eyes sparkling. Jesse grinned.

“Really? You’d go to a Starbucks? For lil ol’ me?” He asked, hiding how genuinely happy that made him. Hanzo nodded, hints of amusement in his gaze, though there was an undertone of sincere appreciation that awed the cowboy.

Jesse was going to continue, when he heard a shout up ahead. Hanzo flinched beside him, and both of them turned to look at where the noise had come from. Racing towards them, gleefully tugging along a poor Lúcio, was Genji. Hanzo had a look in his eyes that Jesse couldn’t place, though it was something along the lines of dread, as well as content happiness. McCree wondered if anyone else noticed all of the expressions that were hidden in such beautiful eyes. He doubted it, because as far as he knew, no-one else was that in love with Hanzo. Jesse understood that he was also just plain weird for staring at Hanzo so much, but saying that he did it because he loved the Shimada more than anyone else was a much nicer way of putting it.

Jesse felt a tug at his arm as Genji crashed into Hanzo, forcing his older brother to take a step back, but he didn’t let go of Jesse’s hand. Speaking quickly in Japanese, Genji enthusiastically chatted away to his brother, who calmly replied to what Jesse assumed were questions. Feeling awkward, Jesse glanced at Lúcio, who also looked somewhat unsure of what to do. Without understanding what the brothers were saying, it was a bit difficult to contribute anything to the conversation. After a moment or two of talking between the brothers, Genji turned to Jesse.

“Jesse, you are dating Hanzo now.” He sounded serious, but his expression was kind. “I am trusting you to be good to him! And I am trusting him to be good to you.” Genji glanced at Hanzo, bright eyes flicking between him and the cowboy for a moment or two. Jesse recalled the notebook the younger Shimada had, with all those dreams written down. Genji cared so much about Hanzo’s future, and McCree realized the younger Shimada wanted Jesse to be apart of it more than anything or anyone else, perhaps even Genji himself.

“I’ll do my best.” Jesse said, a bit overwhelmed with that responsibility. He was now officially one of Hanzo’s main sources of happiness. He had to be there for the Shimada no matter what, and if he fucked up, not only would he upset Hanzo, but Genji too.

“Your best is enough.” Hanzo said quickly, squeezing Jesse’s hand encouragingly. McCree smiled bashfully, knowing that the Shimada didn’t doubt him gave him a surge of happiness and confidence, feelings he wished he could get lost in.

“Come on! The others are waiting!” Genji said, quickly tugging Lúcio back towards the entrance of the fair. Jesse felt a bit of pity for the kid, being dragged around by Genji like a doll. But he honestly looked happy as he ran after Genji, talking to him as they left Hanzo and Jesse’s earshot. Maybe it was like Jesse and Hanzo. Jesse felt like he knew Hanzo better than most people. The Shimada was probably just a quiet loner to everyone else, but to Jesse, even the slight brush of their shoulders, or the gleam of excitement in his eyes, or the soft, barely noticeable blush tinting his cheeks, was enough for Jesse to know that Hanzo enjoyed being close to him. Maybe Lúcio and Genji were like that, but Jesse didn’t really understand the way they acted towards each other. What if it wasn’t that Genji was pulling Lúcio along on their adventure, but Lúcio was pushing him forward? Or it was probably that Lúcio was just the kind of person who didn’t mind being dragged around the fair by Genji if the Shimada was having fun. Regardless, at least both of them were happy.

As they got closer, Jesse could make out his friends properly. Sombra, bright purple as always, was particularly noticeable because of Hana, who was in bright pink, standing next to her. Lena, Jamison, and ‘Reeha were there too, and all of them were crowded around Genji. Jesse glanced at Hanzo, wondering how much he told his brother. Seemingly reading McCree’s thoughts, Hanzo cleared his throat.

“I told him we mutually decided we would benefit more from being in a romantic relationship than a platonic one.” Hanzo said, smiling. Jesse chuckled.

“I suppose that’s true. But uh, I’d say it was a lot nicer than that. And more memorable.” He added, winking at the Shimada. Blushing, Hanzo was going to reply, when a sharp, high pitched laugh stopped him. Blinking back to the entrance, both Jesse and Hanzo let out exasperated sighs as they saw Jamison pointing at them, giggling triumphantly. The rest of the group looked up, and Jesse rested his eyes on each of them individually for a brief moment, reading their expressions carefully. Lena looked ready to do a cartwheel, her eyes shining as she waved at them. Fareeha crossed her arms, smirking at Jesse. McCree took particular care to keep Jamison out of his thoughts, though it was pretty difficult with the kid squealing about how he was right. Hana smiled kindly, though she didn’t seem very interested. Sombra had a mixture of pride, amusement, and curiosity on her face, which echoed Genji’s expression. Filled with energy, Jesse quickened his pace, excitement overwhelming his dread to talk to his friends. Hanzo chuckled quietly, hurrying after Jesse.

Coming to a halt, Jesse let go of Hanzo’s hand, placing his arm over the Shimada’s shoulder. Jamison collapsed, laughing on the ground. “Fuckin’ knew it! We all knew it! One glance and it was so obvious! Surprised you blokes didn’t pick up on each other’s feelings sooner!” He yelled, clutching his sides as he wheezed a laugh. Lúcio rolled his eyes.

“We get it, Jamie. You were right. We were all right. It’s a lot harder to notice if someone likes you if you’re busy worrying that they’ll find out about your own feelings.” He said. Jesse was surprised, but then he realized that of course Lúcio knew how it was. Genji knew too. He’d sent Jesse texts meant for someone else, the Shimada had been worried Lúcio only thought of him as a friend. How could you know if someone loved you if you were busy trying to pretend you didn’t love them?

“So, Jessito, you finally did it?” Sombra asked, paying no attention to the still giggling Jamison. Beside her stood Hana, who leaned against Sombra’s shoulder as she scrolled through her phone. Jesse glanced between them for a few moments, not sure what to make of that, before Lena interrupted his thoughts.

“Yeah! You did it! Well done, luv!” She said, jumping up and punching the air. Fareeha laughed beside her, eyes gleaming.

“Took you long enough. I’m impressed you even managed to realize you liked Hanzo, with the way you’re normally so oblivious.” She said, smirking. Jesse knew he had always been quite bad at identifying his feelings. He had once asked Fareeha if he was supposed to be happy if Gabe gave him a smartphone. The answer was obviously yes, but Jesse hadn’t known the proper way to react to a ‘gift’. At least now he knew, and he also knew what it felt like to be in love with someone. Jesse couldn’t deny it anymore, that he was truly in love with Hanzo.

“Genji, luv, what did you do with all of those prizes Jesse won?” Lena asked, catching Jesse’s interest. Jesse had given Hanzo the prizes, who gave them to Genji. The younger Shimada had taken them with them in a big bag filled up with fluffy soft toys when he had gone to talk to Lúcio. Genji froze, then coughed, choking on his surprise, which Jesse was pretty sure wasn’t a thing, but Genji had done it anyway.

“Kuso! I gave them to the lady at the place with all the jewelry!” He said, not waiting for anyone else to say anything as he sprinted away, this time leaving Lúcio with the group. Lena immediately rushed after him.

“Wait! I’m supposed to buy something for Emily!” She yelled, though Genji didn’t stop. Watching them go, Jesse smiled to himself. Trust Lena and Genji to forget the few things they had responsibility for.

“I guess we’re waiting for them.” Sombra muttered. She glanced beside her, looking down at Hana’s phone. “Could you google the nearest smoothie place? I’m not sure if it’d be easy to go to Spookberry’s or Tropicala’s.” She said. Hana hummed and nodded, tapping away at the phone. Jesse remembered those names, he’d been there a few times for smoothies in the past. He wasn’t sure either would be open so late, but it couldn’t hurt to try. Glancing at Hana, Jesse cleared his throat.

“Sombra? Could I talk to you?” He asked, already stepping away. Sombra shrugged and followed him, making sure Hana was stable before taking away her leaning privileges. Jesse stopped a little way away from the group, trying to think of how to phrase what he was going to ask.

“Do you like that friend of yours? I mean, really like her?” He asked. Jesse wasn’t going to stop Sombra from dating anyone, but he was curious. It had never been discussed who exactly Sombra liked, she had never really talked about which gender she preferred. Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head.

“No. I don’t like Hana that way. Or anyone else. I…” Sombra paused, frowning. Jesse stifled a sigh of relief. Sombra was responsible, she would pick the right person to date, Jesse knew that. But he couldn’t shake a feeling that he had to monitor it. What if she got hurt? It’d be Jesse’s fault, because that meant he hadn’t taken care of her properly. It surprised McCree that he felt this way, but he quickly understood why. He was Sombra’s brother. He’d seen the way Hanzo and Genji acted. Hanzo bossed his younger brother around, told him what to do, and kept him safe. In turn, Genji was always asking for Hanzo’s approval and opinion. He had wanted Hanzo to like Lúcio, even though Genji could have dated him no matter what Hanzo thought. It dawned on Jesse that he was supposed to look after Sombra, even if that meant keeping her away from people she liked being with. Jesse smiled encouragingly at her, deciding to embrace his new found role. He tried to ignore that it had taken him a year and half to find it.

“I dunno. I might… I might be like... Aro. Ace. Or something.” Sombra muttered, biting her lip as she stared at the ground. That surprised Jesse. She was Aromantic? Jesse knew what it was like to be in love, it had been inevitable for him to fall for someone one day. Sombra wouldn’t. Why or how was a bit of a mystery to Jesse. He hadn’t expected that from his sister, but he supposed it made sense. Sombra was the person to have lots of friends and close relationships, but she didn’t really want to fall in love. Jesse was pretty sure he knew why. If you fell in love, you could get hurt. That was his understanding of Sombra’s reasons, but she probably had others.

“Well, good for you. I don’t really know how that feels, but I support you.” Jesse said, patting Sombra on the shoulder. She smiled gratefully at him, relief flashing in her eyes.

“Thanks, Jessito.” She murmured. Glancing over, Jesse noticed Genji rushing back towards the group with the large bag of stuffed animals, followed closely by Lena, who had a small black box in her hand. Jesse laughed.

“Let’s see about those smoothies!” He said to his sister, the two of them going back to the group. Jesse went to stand at Hanzo’s side, leaving Sombra to be leaned on by Hana.

“Cowboy.” Hanzo murmured in greeting, his soft voice warming Jesse’s heart.

“Pumpkin.” McCree replied, automatically going back to holding the Shimada’s hand.

~~

“I want to go home.” Hana murmured. Jesse looked up. He was pretty sure those were the first words she had said to him all night, and she wasn’t even really directing them at him, just the table in general. He felt kind of squished, with Genji on his right, resting against Lúcio, and Hanzo on his left, Jesse’s arm over his shoulder as the Shimada looked down at his phone. Lena was next to Hanzo, Fareeha beside her, then Hana and Sombra, and Jamison between Sombra and Lúcio for a full circle.

“You sure your dad will be home?” Sombra asked. Jesse blinked. Why wouldn’t he be? Actually, Jesse had no idea who Hana’s father was. Probably some rich guy who only managed to get his daughter into the korean gaming scene by throwing money at people.

“Dad promised to be at home by nine thirty, so he’s had an extra half an hour. It’s been like five hours, even Reinhardt can’t drink and play board games for that long.” Hana muttered. Reinhardt? Jesse tensed, causing Hanzo to look up. Fareeha breathed in sharply, cringing as Jesse shot her a confused look. She knew something, and Jesse couldn’t tell what he was missing.

“You know what, I’m just gonna say it.” Sombra said, unfazed by the withering look ‘Reeha tried to give her.

“Hana’s dad is Jack. The Jack who found Soldier, the Jack Ana’s friends with, and the Jack pa used to… The Jack that pa doesn’t really like anymore.” She explained, crossing her arms. Jesse blinked, thinking about it, then nodded slowly. That made sense. Though it was interesting that somehow it was all connected. It seemed a bit hypocritical to Jesse. Gabe had to leave Overwatch because he wanted to adopt Jesse. But then Jack got his own kid, no problems. Well, he had to leave Overwatch too… It still wasn’t fair.

“Gotcha.” McCree said simply, honestly too tired to continue the conversation. Hanzo rested his head on Jesse’s shoulder, causing McCree to freeze. Would he ever get used to being so close to the Shimada?

“I believe we must all begin heading back home now. The fair was enjoyable.” Hanzo announced, making no move to get up. That seemed to be all everyone needed, because they started standing up, agreeing with the Shimada. Jesse wondered how the three kids would get home, frowning at them with concern. Lúcio noticed his expression, and he smiled confidently.

“Mako will probably come get us three, right Jamie?” He asked, turning to the Australian. Jamison nodded, tapping at his phone. Lúcio nodded politely to the older teens, then leaned down and gave the still seated Genji a kiss on his cheek, the Brazilian’s fingertips tracing Genji’s jawline gently before he stood back up. Lúcio grabbed Hana’s wrist and pulled her up, ignoring her complaints. Jesse heard Jamison say something about five minutes, before the trio was out the door, each taking with them a stuffed animal Jesse hadn’t noticed before.

Jesse smiled, enjoying the free space the kids had left behind. His contentment didn’t last for long, as it was interrupted by the others standing up. Sombra was stretching, and Fareeha was rubbing her eyes tiredly. Jesse wasn’t planning on getting up, but as Hanzo stood up beside him, he couldn’t stand being without the Shimada’s shoulder against his own, so Jesse reluctantly stood. He heard something about Fareeha staying at Lena’s house and Genji calling his father, but other than that he was lost to the world, too tired and too distracted by Hanzo to pay any real attention.

“I enjoyed tonight.” The murmur in his ear brought Jesse back frown the drowsy daze he was struggling to escape. The mix of fear, excitement, and pure happiness that had been piling up the whole night was trying to pull Jesse deeper into exhaustion.

“I loved it.” Jesse replied, smiling at Hanzo. Time seemed to stand still for eons, and Jesse didn’t notice himself leaning forward. Kissing Hanzo softly for the second time that night, Jesse felt a flame of sorts flicker in his heart, briefly giving him a surge of energy. The kiss lasted barely a few moments, but Jesse enjoyed every second of it. From what he could tell, Hanzo felt the same, his eyes sparkling with delight as he smiled at Jesse when they parted. There was muffled talking from Genji, and a dazed Jesse glanced at him.

“My Father will drop you and Sombra at your house.” Hanzo explained quietly, probably having noticed Jesse’s lack of listening to anything around him. Jesse sighed, for the first time that night there was sadness swirling in his heart.

“Darlin’, I don’t wanna have to leave ya.” McCree murmured, looking into the Shimada’s eyes. Hanzo smiled knowingly, not concerned by Jesse’s worries.

“I know. I do not want to leave you either, but I must. I can promise you, however, that we will spend tomorrow together. And the day after that. And many more to come. We can spend everyday with each other if that is what you would like.” Hanzo whispered. Jesse grinned, knowing that promise would be kept.

“I think I’d like that a lot, buttercup.” He said gently, already anticipating the adventures ahead. 

They left the smoothie place, with Lena, Genji and Fareeha in the lead, Jesse and Hanzo side by side, and Sombra tapping at her phone while she followed. What remained of the friend group waited outside for a few minutes, chatting quietly. After a while Lena and Fareeha said their farewells, and Hanzo and Jesse just waved at them in return. Jesse closed his eyes, taking in the cool breeze that was outweighed by the warmth he gained from Hanzo standing beside him, as well as the distant sounds of cars muffled in the dark night, and the happy contentedness resting in his heart. He occasionally glanced out of the corner of his eye, unable to resist the chance to stare at Hanzo. His boyfriend. Jesse had a boyfriend, and all his worries could rest for a bit, while he took a break from adventuring. Yet, he knew that there was much more to come…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuso - Shit
> 
> sombra is aro & ace, woo! sorry to any shippers who wanted her to end up w/ anyone, this is how its gonna be for this au. i like how jesses like 'oh snap i better protecc her from any bad ppl she wants to date' then boom nope shes not dating anyone anyway nice try jesse
> 
> okay well um
> 
> thank you to everyone for reading my silly little fic sparked by an 'inspiring' walk to a dairy at night to get an ice-cream. i'm really surprised that people liked it so much, and i probably would have abandoned it after a few chapters if it wasn't for the overwhelming support from not only my beta reader Spookle (ily), but from a bunch of strangers who apparently really care about what i'm writing. i hope the ending wasn't a disappointment, and i hope to see a few familiar commenters on my next fic for this au.
> 
> ew this is getting sappy its just a fanfic i'll stop now
> 
> feel free to check out the next fic, [Do you believe the stories?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16421912/chapters/38447423), hopefully its not as bad as this one

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated <3


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